#i think it could be improved in a lot of ways. mainly with comparisons of tony to ben

[hearty-an0n]

you can see marvel become more and more soulless via a mcu spidey marathon

[dr-spectre]

I've been thinking about this a lot considering that Splatoon 3 is about to end its content updates.

When people (mainly casual fans and game journalists) say, "oh Splatoon 3 feels more of the same! They need to do something dramatically different for the next game! The series has to evolve!"

I agree with that statement... but like... when you say that you want significant changes in the gameplay to where Splatoon 4 is nowhere near the same as Splatoon 3, what do you mean by that?

Like seriously, what the hell do you mean by significant and dramatic changes to the formula? Can you name some examples? You want a battle royale mode? Do you want a gimmick of some kind? Do you want the Inklings to turn into werewolves at night? Do you want the Inklings to be given a ring that gives them fiery powers? Do you want them to be given a talking sword, LIKE WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?

it's hard for me to wrap my head around that statement because I actually genuinely agree that Splatoon 4 needs to make Splatoon 3 look like a 3/10 in comparison. But I don't know how they can do it and I dont know If game journalists know either. They just throw out statements without giving any sort of creative ideas to back them up.

Also to those who say Splatoon 3 is just Splatoon 2 again. Play those two games back to back, you will notice a lot of differences.

Faster gameplay, new movement options, different specials, different sub and main weapons with unique and fresh ideas, Salmon Run feels way better and chaotic in Splatoon 3, a rogue like mode, multiple hubs, improved graphics, improved UI that better accommodates the Switch.

The only similarity is that the camera is the same, that's it lmao. Splatoon 3 does what any good sequel should do, take the base formula and make it better! Not EVERY sequel needs to be some dramatic switch up you know? Should Splatoon 4 make some significant changes to make stuff fresh considering that it will be the fourth game in the series? Sure! But what kind of changes or addictions could they do?

I don't know! I'm not Nintendo!

[mayordea]

songwriting with meiko 🎙️

i have a few things to comment abt this which will be isolated under the cut so the post doesnt get too bloated :] mainly small hcs about meiko/kaito/miku hhhh

an idea that briefly popped in my head when i was brushing my teeth that i did not want to let get away. it was ambitious and i liked the concept of using my hc'd versions of the younger crypton vocaloids (miku's beta design and meiko/kaito's v1 designs) interacting with each other, so i went for it. i designed the general vibe of the background in animal crossing, ol reliable for these kinds of things, since i knew i wanted to cram as much detail in the environment as i could. i made a post about it on my personal account here since i was quite proud of this build.

as i was decorating, i kept spontaneously making headcanons for the younger meiko/kaito/miku unit in order to understand how to populate their living space with accurate clutter. i ended up totally overdecorating the whole thing and only referenced a small portion of the interior (like, why'd i go so hard on thinking about the yard? thats just what happens when i try taking this route) but i did like some of the ideas i came up with to explain my decorative choices. here's just a ramble.

oh yeah i guess i should get something i mentioned in the tags of that art i made w all the crypton gang's "younger" versions out of the way: i hc the character vocal gangs' "younger" designs to be their "IF" or beta designs. and meiko and kaito's younger versions are their V1 designs, mainly inspired by how they appear in the earlier project diva games (every time i look at them i just see them as awkward teens still trying to figure out who they are lmao)

also mentioned there that sakine meiko and meiko are one in the same and the fanloid and vocaloid arent separate entities. sakine meiko was meiko in her early music career as a relatable teen pop idol, with the "sakine" family name being made up to create that image. once meiko grew into an adult, she put the persona behind and just went by meiko, and around that time she met kaito and theyd be musical partners for a while

meiko sort of adopts miku into their unit when she recognizes her potential and serves as a mentor to her after then. kaito is the same but acts more as a supportive guardian in comparison. rin, len, and luka would come along later of course.

yeah i really fuck with the idea of the crypton gang being a little family :] i think it's neat! and this art/animal crossing build was a fun way to explore that hc a little

meiko is a physical media fiend, especially for music. loves collecting cds and vinyls and the like; they're littered all over the house. loves rock music too

kaito on the other hand has a knack for gardening and tends to the very modest garden outside their house. also collects a lot of art he finds in thrift marts and such for novelty's sake

miku always dedicated herself to improving her craft and finding her voice thanks to the help of meiko. she was also kind of a nerd at this era. very serious and dedicated

these folks did not know how to clean shit up, everything left lying on the floor ends up being an intentional decoration (probably not clear in this but i did like scattering stuff around to the best of my ability in the AC build)

ummm that’s it for now i guess i had less than i expected? but i’m glad to get this down somewhere lol feel free to share your own hcs if you wish, i love hearing them

[aconflagrationofmyown]

Your writing is incredible. Each sentence is so carefully crafted and satisfying to read. I was wondering if you could give me any writing advice? In terms of just improving my writing. Structuring sentences are always such a difficult one for me, mainly because I am trying to avoid sounding repetitive and bland with my descriptions. So, any advice would help so much 😭

Ooooh goodness, this is the stuff I adore talking about but the minute I’m asked for advice my brain goes blank and the imposter syndrome chokes me. Nevertheless, it is sweet words like yours that fuel me to keep putting my writing out there and keep improving, y’all are literally watching me try to better myself because I’m aware that the more daring I get, the more technical fallacies I commit. But all that said, I’d love to encourage you and share what’s helped me.

I’ve got to give a load of credit for any wordsmithing talent I may have to my having read two things voraciously growing up: old books and old letters.

I mean start as far back as the 1920’s and then keep going back, nothing too modern as those became a little terse, which was talent in itself but a little unhelpful for the issue of repetition. The letters aspect is helpful because it’s so cool to see how people back then crafted telling average and mundane stories about their days in a way that was super compelling. Most correspondence today by comparison is dry as dust. I really rely on that ingrained way of picking out the meat of a sentence and starting there instead of rambling too much beforehand.

My mode of operating is that I’d rather someone be a little lost in my story than fully bored. So I keep the details minimal, I try to think of a goal with each sentence.

Say this one sentence is detailing a doorframe…let’s keep it to just that after we’ve made sure that’s even needed. The next sentence is detailing how the girl feels after the love of her life just walked out, that sentence may be far more complex but it might also mention the doorframe because when we are overloaded with emotions we sometimes shut down and notice trivial things like the peeling paint on a doorframe. Someone once said to describe war you don’t need paragraph upon paragraph detailing carnage, you just need to mention a child’s little shoe burning in the middle of the street. Sometimes the little things are the sucker punch. Does that make any sense at all?

I try to keep my descriptions of surroundings or individuals concise and often anecdotal- that’s necessary to hold my own attention and so that’s what i apply to my own writing. It’s a whole lot of:

“would this bore me or would this shock me or would I do a double take to make sure this was actually meant or would this resonate with me?”

and work on from there. Some of my sentences have grammatical errors, very often in fact, and that’s something I want to grow in but for now I don’t care as it’s a training wheel to keep the sentence structures more interesting.

So, I guess my chief advice is consider your own favorite books or fics and study them. Find a paragraph or dialogue sentence that really struck you as effective and study the hell out of it. How did they begin it? Was there a comma and portion in the middle to squeeze in more info without burdening the beginning? How many dialogue tags were there? -sometimes a simple “he said” is better than tacking on an emotion or description to everything.

So, studying like that is what I do as an exercise, then writing my own with those structures in mind. So much of it is rhythm of a sort.

All my love and feel free to pop back in if this ramble did nothing for ya or you think of something else you’d like to ask! I love it. Best wishes!

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

CW: childhood trauma, complex trauma, emotional flashbacks, difficult recovery

Seeking: mainly reassurance, also advice/resources

I've recently realised that what I thought was anxiety is actually emotional flashbacks. I have done some reading about them and how to manage them and have started tracking them in my bullet journal so I can be more aware of them and therefore manage them better.

But while this seems to already be helping it is quite distressing to realise I'm getting upwards of ten emotional flashbacks in a day. I'm hoping the number is inflated due to me just thinking more about it and therefore more likely to think triggering thoughts but I think it's more likely that I am simply being more aware of what was already happening.

One piece of advice is to document and avoid your triggers but I don't see how I can do the second part when my trigger seems to be "anything that I am capable of imagining can cause me harm that I feel I have insufficient control over"

I am on the waiting list for professional help, with plans to refer me to other help afterwards but I'm feeling really out of my depth right now. I know that the fact that there is time in-between flashbacks now instead of just constantly feeling that way like I was a year and a half ago is improvement but that doesn't make it feel less distressing.

I guess I just want to know that it can get better. Even just getting to the point where I only get one or two a day would be heavenly in comparison to right now.

Hi anon,

There are both pros and cons to keeping track of negative events, whether it's triggers, flashbacks, even nightmares, etc. On one hand, like you said, it can help to recognize a pattern and use that to inform how you navigate your day. But it's very common for this kind of documentation to reinforce those thoughts and feelings by giving it more space in your life. I used to record every PTSD nightmare I had to try and notice a pattern and then I realized that writing it down was making them happen more. When I stopped recording them, I gradually stopped having those dreams.

However, as someone who has journaled on and off since 2012, I strongly believe in the therapeutic benefits of journaling. Instead of documenting and dating each episode, it might be better to use that space to express how you feel, what you think, and how your day went or what plans you have. Documenting triggers in particular, especially for the sake of avoiding them, can create additional fear around those triggers, which makes them more intimidating and powerful. Something that tends to help a lot of folks is to try to stay grounded in the present and focus on the positives as much as possible. By doing this you can slowly give your triggers less power until they no longer have influence over you.

I hope I could help and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[sunriseverse]

tagged by @lucientelrunya to do a “twenty questions for fic writers” tag meme (thank you!!!!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

376. about 200 or so of those are pacrim promptfics though, which inflates the number.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,234,900. i unfortunately suffer from a chronic inability to shut up, and fanfic is basically my only non-academic hobby.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

as of march 2023, various adaptations and canons falling under the dmbj umbrella.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

strike it through (start again) (922)

do you feel the hunger (does it howl inside?) (616)

a love that echoes through the distance (472)

strokes of love (441)

chart a course for a better tomorrow (390)

(honestly i’m kind of annoyed my ofmd fics are so popular, since i got in at just the right time (a lot of fandom interest but comparatively few fanfics in comparison to demand) to get a decent amount of attention to them, but i don’t really care about the show anymore so seeing it skew my stats miffs me a bit. also, i think my recent works are just far better written because i’ve improved at my craft.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

probably 95% of the time, yeah! even if it’s just a “thanks for commenting, glad you liked the fic!” i think it’s important readers know that i’m not just some faceless set of hands posting—i am a real person, as much a part of whatever fandom i’m in as any lurkers.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhhhh well. there’s one i wrote that’s canon-compliant for cql? but i feel like canon-compliant mcd doesn’t count. other than that………i THINK i wrote a “newt dies” fanfic back in ‘19 or ‘20.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

no idea how to go at this question, honestly. with few exceptions, my writing is all either happy endings, or hopeful endings. i don’t have the emotional bandwidth to leave something an open wound, you know? but “the things in this forest have teeth and claws” was probably the most personally-settling things i’ve written.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

yeah, sometimes. i haven’t had this problem since i migrated to ao3, but it did happen on ffnet. before i stopped crossposting to ffnet some time in ‘20/‘21, i got someone calling me a “fat f*g hag”, so. [shrug] i’m pretty used to just deleting comments and not letting them get to me, though, so it’s not a big deal.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

as a rule, no; it’s not really my thing. i prefer to explore interpersonal intimacy in other ways. that’s not to say i won’t imply smut, though—it’s something the characters i write about engage with as part of the course of their lives, and i don’t have any interest in ignoring that, either, even if i don’t explicitly write it out.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i used to write more crossovers, but now i mainly write fusions (dæmon/hdm fusions and pacrim fusions are some of my favourites). i think probably the wildest fusion i can think of is the tma/iasip fic i wrote one time. i read it the other day, and while it’s a little rough, most of it still holds up, and it’s pretty funny.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge, no. just in case, though, i have a disclaimer in my ao3 bio about any works appearing anywhere besides my ao3 or ffnet (same user) is stolen and i do not authorise it to be there.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

someone asked me years ago (in 2019, i believe) if they could translate one of my pacrim fics into russian. i haven’t heard from them since, though, so effectively the answer here is “no”.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

a couple times! it’s a bit hard because you have to do a lot of coordinating and planning, and that’s assuming the fanfic doesn’t just wind up languishing in the draft/idea phase forever.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

this is going to sound silly, but—ozma of oz/dorothy gale. look, i read all the oz books i could get my hands on as a child, and i was always fascinated with their “close friendship” (i wonder why!)

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i have a wip that was grandfathered in from my friend emma, who wound up leaving fandom (good for her; as she tells it, her mental health improved because of this), that i sometimes stare longingly at with a deeply bittersweet fondness. it’s hannigram, and will probably never be finished because trying to rewatch the show just makes me incalculably angry at brian fuller.

16. What are your writing strengths?

description! i’ve been told i am able to paint the things i write so vividly they almost feel real. i also enjoy descriptive writing, which probably helps.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plots that aren’t character-driven. i’m a character writer first and foremost, and my projects generally are emotionally-driven, so i don’t have much chance to try and write action-driven plots. which is fine by me, i’m not terribly interested in them. if there’s action in my writing, it’s almost invariably in service to character.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

depends on how it’s handled. it can either be very good, or very bad.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

to absolutely no one’s surprise, warrior cats. this was back in the days of writing fanfic by hand and hiding it away. my oldest still-published fanfic, though, is a discontinued 2017 warrior cats fanfic that centres a deaf apprentice. it’s a pity i never kept any notes for this fanfic (or, if i did, they at some point got lost), because i think the concept is fascinating.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

self-indulgence is the rule here, so probably “best laid plans”, a very silly concept that accidentally acquired a lot of emotion to it. oops!

tagging…………… @lunarriviera , @butchybats , @fixaidea , and anyone else who sees this and wants to participate!

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

dw i dont think the poll was that deep! i just really like talking about these things lmao, i really love ofmd and brba so its hard for me not to think about the comparison deeper. in response to your thoughts on the matter, i just wanted to say— jesse actually didnt snitch! it gets revealed by the police later that krazy8 actually snitched on his own cousin, and had been an informant for them for a long time. all the characters in the show are pretty morally bankrupt and jesse is the best of them tbh (excluding almost all of the women and all of the kids). selling meth is basically like murder in ofmd where its like, so many of the characters sell meth and are criminals or crooked cops that the scale of morality is skewed. like i wouldnt call ed a bad person in the scope of ofmd because he’s committed murder (not by his own hands ofc but like, thats semantics, hes caused a lot of death.) i also dont really mind him saying faggot because its funny lmfao but stops he does stop saying it eventually, which is an improvement. he may say faggot but he’s honestly one of the least toxically masculine characters in the show. any toxic masculinity he exhibits is really limited (imo, its mainly his casual homophobia in the beginning of s1) and it never hurts anyone, unlike izzy who hurts so many people because of his toxicity. a consistent theme in the show is jesse being walt’s foil. the meth business brings out the darkest of walt’s narcissism, apathy and disregard for others lives and wellbeing, which turns him into a monster. all the while jesse stays empathetic, and is good at heart even if he fucks up sometimes and commits crimes. i could list all of the things that jesse does that drive home this point and personally make my heart ache for him but this ask is already long enough!! idk TLDR basically ofmd’s narrative condemns izzy’s actions and used him as contrast to the goodness of the other characters, whereas brba’s married frames jesse as decent person who is used to contrast walt’s genuine psychopathy and machiavellianism. i dont really think the characters are comparable from a narrative perspective but tbh i get why you would compare them from a fandom perspective! they are both poor little meow meows in fanon, and thats more accurate to what your poll was measuring. sorry again for how long this is i just have so many thoughts T_T

oh ok werk. It really seemed like he was lying about not being the informant when he was called on it but I suppose that'll come up soon enough. Like, that man is not very good at not coming off suspicious. I agree tho about your point on the homophobia. Like if a real guy like Jessie was coming at me with the f slur like that I would feel very unsafe, but the way it reads in the show is like him calling the very heterosexual Walter White a homo as he, Jessie "t-boy swag" Pinkman, zooms in on his ass with a camera so it's like the homophobia is so undercut, dude. Like homie you are coming off so fruity for a guy who uses faggot as an insult.

But yeah Like I said in the first ask I don't consider selling meth evil, an argument could be made to me about "well they profit off of people's addictions" to which I would respond "So you agree? Selling things that people need to continue functioning is evil? Which means selling food is evil and it should instead be free." To me drug dealing is not that bad in a society where we let people die of no money all the time. We're all doing what we gotta do to get by. I'm just using dealing meth as a morality argument because I don't expect mainstream television shows to share my rather libertarian(Leftist) views on drugs and I assume any meth dealer on my screen is going to do other things that I am against, like, idk murder. I have no beef with the real life Walts and Jessies of the world, although you would do well to stop cutting your drugs. Jessie, Jessie, I'm begging you not to synthesize baphomet's dandruff (Meth + cHiLi PoWdEr) my nostrils are burning just thinking about that shit.

[lovee-infected]

So Merlin the goddamn great, smh but no ROOK LORE I AM FURIOUS! I STILL WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

Warning: Spoiler alert!

Oooooofff the final episodes of chapter 5 did seriously explode the fandom I see, from the overblot Grim to our twst Merlin, everything literally everything about the end of this chapter was a big surprise but... This chapter has also brought up a considerably huge wave of drama along with it, which is basically because of Rook voting for RSA instead of NRC. I, personally, considered it to be just a reason to laugh and make a meme or two about this chapter and all. But looking at the fandom, I can clearly see that it's been causing some serious consequences, some fans/creators are leaving the fandom, there has been a couple of offensively worded Rook hate posts (small memes and jokes aren't counted) and there's ever a #RookIsOverParty on Twitter now.

Okay but, it was all cool and chill until it was just a joke. Can't you see? This happens in many fandoms! And is often a good chance to laugh! But...This is getting serious. A huge majority of this fandom (even Rook/Vil shippers and Rook stans themselves) are hating on Rook/Rook stans and fans are leaving, therefore I believe the situation needs to be clarified before it leads to more dramas.

Many of you had also requested a Rook analysis before sooooo- here we go!

First off, this episode did eventually give us a considerable amount of Rook lore although it wasn't as perfect as we wanted it to be. Most of us wanted to get to know him more, but I'd say focusing on all we've got already would do for now. But before that, let's talk about what exactly happened in chapter 5 and why are fand hating on Rook rn:

after the performances are voted on, it’s revealed that nrc lost to rsa by just a single vote. that vote turned out to be rook, who voted for rsa in favor of their own team as he was moved by their spirit. the whole nrc team is shellshocked (of course) and vil faints

it’s also later revealed that rook is one of neige’s biggest fans, possessing albums full of his bromides, going to each meet and greet, and even writing him anonymous fan letters.

Okay okay I know this was quite unexpected and resulted in NRC's loss, but before you say how much of a shitty character Rook is consider this:

1) He was totally honest with his opinion and thoughts.

One of the interesting facts regarding Rook's character design and presence in chapter 5, is how he played the role of both the huntsman and the mirror.

He was honest with his beliefs and decision, although it was against his friends. Just as how the mirror introduced Snow White as the fairest one of all although Evil Queen didn't want to hear of her.

This is also what Rook did, he judged based on his idealistics towards beauty. NOT because he's a screaming Neige fanboy and NOT because he disliked Vil.

Honestly, if there's one person whose judgement would be strong and on point, that'll be Rook and only him; in parts (2) & (4) we'll explain why.

2) His decision has nothing to do with his personal relationship with Vil!

Yes, he voted for RSA, but to assume that this means he secretly preferred Neige over Vil all this time and call him a betrayer now, that's wrong.

Look, if there one person who could judge NRC's process through the training sessions fairly, that'll be Rook. He's been there all this time, watching each and every second of Vil's coaching and team's progressing, note that he also helped Vil the most, this performance would've been impossible without his help!

But, he was also there when Vil lost it, when Vil's fear of not being the winner took over him and made him even try to poison Neige. At some point Vil was nothing like the perfect coach he was at the very beginning, and if Rook hadn't told Neige to escape who knows how terrible the whole think might've gone.

His decision, on the other hand, was HIS decision. He was asked to choose one performance, and he chose what he liked; that's all, no big deal. Note that the silly thing with the whole issue isn't mainly how Rook voted for RSA, it's also about how half of the audience as well voted for RSA which makes it sound almost stupid, this point will be explained in part (5)!

3) Have you all really forgotten what Rook is like?

I mean, come on this is what he is in general! This is Rook Hunt we're speaking of, one of the rarely known characters of the game and mister of surprises and unpredictable decisions!

Him being a Neige fan is no big deal, and I assure you, he probably stans a lot of other people else than Neige too. Don't forget that this is the same monseiur Rook who gave 100 points! to anyone who participated in NRC's VDC test, so there shouldn't really be a panic taking all over the fandom just because we know he stans Neige, Rook is one to greatly appreciate the concept of beauty in general, and Neige is one of the most famous and beautiful people in the whole twisted wonderland, so other than this being much of a snow white reference, it was totally expected to see him stanning Neige as well. Keep this in mind that just because he's a fan of Neige, it doesn't mean that he hates or he has betrayed Vil.

In Rook's point of view, there is no such thing as rivals in beauty, he just appreciates both Vil and Neige's beauty regardless of what's going on between them.

4) This chapter proved that Rook is indeed a perfect friend for Vil.

While there hasn't ever been a mention of a canon relationship between Vil and Rook, shipper may be happy to know that this episode didn't sink the ship at all. And if you judge and see through what happened in the right eye, you'll see it even shows how strong their friendship is.

Note that this wasn't the first time Rook criticizes Vil either, back in Vil's SR lab coat story he openly criticized Vil and said he's gonna get fat if he continued to eat like this. See? Rook never the once lied to Vil, he openly judges him, and his judgements are logical and on point.

Vil on the other hand is always working his hardest to improve, to become better and completer by each and every day that passes. He needs such a friend by his side to judge him nonetheless, a friend to judge him just like the mirror judged the Queen. But there's a difference, Vil accepts and appreciates criticism BECAUSE, he wants to improve.

A friend like Rook is seriously what he needs, Rook supported and helped him all the way as RSA was getting prepared for VDC, he could've just made them lose and by ruining their training sessions if he wanted to! Can't you see? He helped Vil more than anyone else, but didn't lie to him when it was the time to judge. Vil still has a long way to go, and Rook is aware. He wants Vil to see that he isn't yet complete so that he can become better than he already is.

That's it, that's what a real friend would do.

5) Twst needs to be more considerative toward story line and sudden reveals.

On the one hand, it's mainly fans who are exaggerating the whole issue and starting drama over a simple voting and all, but twst itself as well is partly guilty. This is such a huge and active fandom, each and every detail about the story can be super effective (ex: Sebek being half human, Malleus being an orphan, etc). After making RSA's Yahoo performance look super silly they worst thing they could do was to make NRC lose like this, meaningless, silly and helpless. Why?

Twst seriously needs to take details more seriously as they could've AT LEAST made this comparison sound reasonable by choosing a better and stronger song than a twisted version of Heigh-Ho.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Rook voting for Neige, but seriously? Rook voting for Neige had to be a symbol of honesty and Rook's loyalty toward the concept of beauty itself and not Vil, not an stupid decision to make Rook prefer a childish song over NRC's wonderful performance and look like a helpless Neige fan boy.

-Sigh- Well, I guess that's all I had for now, hope I didn't miss anything. But anyway, the Rook drama is slowly getting overwhelming. There's nothing wrong with memes and jokes AS LONG AS THEY'RE JUST A JOKE- offending characters with clear intention and causing drama because of it is not okay. I know that was unexpected please remember not to exaggerate the story too much either!

[neurodihuegent]

[PART TWO] Huey's Real Nemesis

Since the beginning of season 3, DT17 crew made it clear that Huey would face his own nemesis this season, and by the end of the season, it was revealed to be none other than Bradford Buzzard. Now, I do think that this is accurate, especially because Bradford is pretty much a representation of what Huey could've potentially became if he continued to let his need for order and his fear of the unknown continue to consume him, which is something he definitely overcame by the end of the season.

But, after finishing season 3, while it was obvious that Bradford really was Huey's nemesis in the end, I do think he faced an even bigger enemy throughout the course of the season, and that was himself.

Being neurotic: Faced with his own fear of failure, Huey starts behaving a bit more irrationally than he normally would: Leaving Violet behind because he thinks it’ll ensure him a win, creating an imaginary JWG in his head despite the fact that he is well versed in the book because the thought of not having it at his own disposal drives him up the wall, becoming increasingly anxious (understandably, because the course was a bit too intense for two children to be embarking on alone) when he was faced with every new twist that the course offers.

Being neurotic: Faced with his own fear of failure, Huey starts behaving a bit more irrationally than he normally would: Leaving Violet behind because he thinks it’ll ensure him a win, creating an imaginary JWG in his head despite the fact that he is well versed in the book because the thought of not having it at his own disposal drives him up the wall, becoming increasingly anxious (understandably, because the course was a bit too intense for two children to be embarking on alone) when he was faced with every new twist that the course offers.

Fear of the unknown: Huey probably knows the JWG like the back of his hand, and realistically wouldn’t need it for this course, but the feeling of having to go through this course without the use of it at all whilst competing against someone else for a title that they both worked hard for and want, nearly drives him insane. We see this fear increase throughout the episode, between him having to walk across the lava and being faced with the bear.

Huey’s “need for order”, however, is more focused on in episodes such as Quack Pack!, where he was the first one outside of Donald to notice that they were in an alternate universe solely because things were out of order and weren’t the way they’d normally be which is something that the other characters largely ignored until Huey continuously pointed it out, in The Trickening! where a lot of his conflict with Louie resided in Huey wanting things to be like how they used to be prior to moving into the mansion and feeling as though he needed to control how they were spending their Halloween night, and in The Rumble for Ragnarok! where his plot in the episode mainly focused on him being in an environment being in a situation where he once again, couldn’t control everything on his own and needed to rely on the help of others (Launchpad in this case), in order to be able to handle the task at hand.

A lot of these episodes highlighted how, Huey’s need for order and his fear of the unknown, greatly hindered him from becoming the person he could truly be, and Scrooge even lampshades this in the book “DuckTales: Solving Mysteries, and Rewriting History!”:

“Weakness: Doesn’t trust himself nor his abilities. Ditch that paperweight of a book!”

Huey has the role of “smartest of the smarties” for a reason: He is a very intelligent person, and a good person to rely on when it comes to fact checking or finding the best possible routes or solutions to an adventure. Yet, he always sells himself short when it comes to this aspect, because he’s gained this perspective of himself where he’s “nothing without his junior woodchuck guidebook”, or gets easily stressed out if he feels like he can’t control a situation at hand.

Prior to the series finale, the main thing that Huey overcame was embracing his anger, and learning to not treat it as if it’s something that needs to be hidden. One of the most prominent reasons as to why he was so embarrassed of that side of him and chose to bottle it up rather than face it, was because that side of him brought out emotions that he didn’t have any control over. With the help of Lena, Huey learns to accept that this anger isn’t a separate entity to him, but rather a part of him that he needs to both embrace and learn how to control and to put it to use in situations where they can’t always be figured out or resolved from words.

However, by the series finale, Huey has shown that he has grown quite a lot in terms of learning how to trust himself and rely on his own instincts rather than the JWG: Because his real enemy, outside of Bradford, was literally himself. He was the main person who put obstacles in his own pathway, because he had a hard time giving himself enough credit to know that he is capable of figuring something out without his JWG at his disposal, and because of his crippling fear of facing the unknown.

Huey didn’t spend too much time in the limelight during the series finale, especially in comparison to Webby and Scrooge, but the moments he does have in the finale signify great development on his end: In season one, if Huey had to deal with going against F.O.W.L and trying to devise plans to defeat them without his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, he easily would’ve failed from the pressure. In the season finale? He was able to tip off his brothers about his whereabouts without a JWG in his presence, left his JWG behind on accident when chasing after Webby and didn’t seem phased by it at all, and generally was able to maintain his composure throughout a lot of the finale despite the high stakes situations the family dealt with that day.

TL;DR Huey's biggest enemy all along, was himself: in the way that he would get consumed by every negative thought which would often prevent him from being able to think on his feet. He struggled a lot with selling himself and his intelligence short, yet was able to show signs of improvement in this aspect by the series finale.

[kaialone]

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Pause Screens (Part 2)

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover the pause screen descriptions of all bosses faced exclusively in the extra modes of the game.

While I’m mainly comparing the US English version to the Japanese one, I’ll bring up differences in the EU English version that I find notable, too.

For the comparisons, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

--

This part will work the same as the last one.

And since a lot of these pause descriptions are somewhat connected to their counterparts of the main story as well, I would recommend reading the previous part first, if you haven’t already.

Also, as a general note, you’ll see that all the stronger versions of the regular bosses have the prefix “Re:” added in the Japanese version.

This was changed to “2.0″ in the English version.

From what I’ve seen, “Re:” in Japanese pop culture is often used as a cool, sometimes futuristic way to refer to a “renewal” of something, so adapting it as “2.0″ makes sense.

--

Re:ウィスピーボーグ

ウィスピーボーグが 新モデルに リニューアル。 ねんぴも よくなり はいきガスも へっているので、 カンパニーも かんきょうに はいりょしながら しょうエネ開発を 進めている もよう。 価格も 前モデルの 半分に おさえられている。

Re:Whispy Borg

Whispy Borg has been newly remodeled. The improved fuel efficiency and reduced emission of exhaust gases indicate that perhaps the company too strives to be environmentally friendly, developing new ways to conserve energy. Its price has been cut down to half the previous model, too.

Clanky Woods 2.0

Clanky Woods has been redesigned and upgraded. Better fuel efficiency and fewer emissions demonstrate the company's new environmentally friendly initiative. It costs only half of the previous model!

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

The description has been slightly shortened as usual, though there are some potential errors or changes, too.

-

In the English version, the text mentions “the company’s new environmentally friendly initiative”, whereas the Japanese version doesn’t make it sound like this would be a new thing for them.

It’s possible that this was a mistranslation, but it could also be that they intentionally changed it in English to be a little more obvious about the irony - because the Haltmann Works Company allegedly trying to be environmentally friendly is ridiculous.

-

Also, in the Japanese version, the original wording makes it more clear that Clanky Woods’ price being reduced is seemingly referring to the cost a potential buyer would have to pay for it, rather than the cost of producing it.

This feels like it might be alluding to how in real life, manufacturers of electric cars or the like will try to cut down their prices to some degree in order to get more people into them, and thus creating more of a demand for them in the future.

The English version could be going for that as well, but it’s a bit less clear.

--

Re:ホログラフ防衛システムズ

マザーコンピューターにより リニューアル された この 防衛システムも、他の星に ねむっていた せっけい図を もとにして 作られた ものだが、一部 データが かけている ため、 本来の せい能を はっきできずに いるらしい。

Re:Holographic Defense Systems

Revised by the Mother Computer, this defense system was also created based on blueprints discovered on another planet. But, because part of the data is missing, it is apparently unable to demonstrate its original performance. (1)

Holo Defense API 2.0

Redesigned by the Mother Computer, this defense system is based on a blueprint found on another planet. It's missing a segment of data and is unable to demonstrate its full potential.

Translation Note:

What I translated as “original performance” here could also be translated as “true performance” or the like. I don’t think the specifics make much of a difference here, but thought I would note it, just in case.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description is mostly the same, but there is an interesting detail about it.

-

The Japanese version notes that this defense system was “also” based on blueprints found on another planet.

This directly implies other things have been based on such blueprints, but it doesn’t specify which those are, nor how many blueprints and planets are involved.

From its looks though, we can gather that the Holo Defense API was likely based on Pix from Rock Star, as seen in Kirby 64.

Similarly, we can assume that the Security Force mid-boss was likely based on Metal General from Halcandra, as seen in Return to Dream Land.

And of course, Star Dream is heavily implied to be something similar to Galactic Nova from Milky Way Wishes - and both of them are implied to be so-called clockwork stars, also first mentioned in Return to Dream Land.

But even considering all that, keep in mind that we still can’t say for sure where and when the Haltmann Works Company would have precured any of their respective blueprints, and series director Shinya Kumazaki intentionally left the answer up in the air when asked about it during the second Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon on Miiverse.

Just so we are all on the same page here.

In any case, the English version is still missing the indication that the Holo Defense API isn’t the only one that was based on blueprints found elsewhere.

The EU English version actually goes one step further, rephrasing the line in question to say that the defence system was built “based on the blueprint found on another planet”.

The wording of “the blueprint” would imply there was only ever one, which does not appear to be the case in Japanese.

--

Re:ホロ・クラッコ

この 雲のモンスターのデータは、 ぶんせき すればするほど、様ざまな こうげきパターンが 見つかる。 その いったんが システムのリニューアルに より かいほうされ、手強くなっている。

Re:Holo-Kracko

The more data of this cloud monster is analyzed, the more attack patterns are discovered. A portion of them have been unlocked by the system's revision, making it a more formidable adversary.

Holo-Kracko 2.0

They further analyzed the data of the cloud monster and discovered even more vicious attacks. The system redesign has implemented these attacks and made Holo-Kracko even more powerful.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description features some slight alterations.

-

The Japanese version mentions that a larger variety of attack patterns is being discovered, while the English version says that “more vicious attacks” have been found.

Aside from those being different things to discover, the Japanese version also makes it clear that this analysis is still being done continuously.

The Japanese version also states that the system’s revision has “unlocked” these additional patterns, but the English version states that it has “implemented” the additional attacks.

So, the implications of how the system works are slightly different here.

-

The US English version also has this description start with “They further analyzed the data of the cloud monster and discovered (...)“, while the EU English version phrases it as “Further analysis of data from the cloud monster has uncovered (...)“.

The latter matches the Japanese version a bit more, with the narrator having a more neutral position regarding the progress.

But, the former isn’t really wrong by comparison either, and the narrator does refer to the company in third person like that occasionally in other places.

--

Re:ホロ・ローパーズ

このモンスターは、スージーが かつて入手した データを入力し 生み出されたのだが、異空間と よばれるエリアに すくう このモンスターの データを 一体いつ、どこで 手に入れたので　あろうか。 かのじょのナゾも また、深まる ばかりである。

Re:Holo Lopers

These monsters were created by entering data that Susie had acquired in the past. But, just when and where exactly did she obtain data on those monsters which live in the area called another dimension? There is no end to the mysteries surrounding her, either.

Holo-Doomers 2.0

These monsters were created by Susie entering data she acquired from her travels. Where and when did she encounter the original monsters from another dimension? Who knows?

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description is mostly the same, with some slight oddities.

-

Of course, the term “another dimension” used in the Japanese version here is the same as before, so my notes on the regular Holo-Doomers also apply here.

And just like before, the EU English version changed “another dimension” to “extra dimension”, which I also went over back there.

-

Also, the Japanese version specifically uses the word “area” to refer to another dimension, which is also the term used for “areas” in Planet Robobot as a game.

I think this could just be to add some flavor to this description, though.

The game seems to use “area” in favor of “level” to give it a more mechanical and business-driven vibe. And so the narration is consistent with that internal logic of the game’s aesthetic.

-

The final line in the Japanese version says that there is no end to the mysteries about Susie “either”, which I think is simply a follow-up to the final line of the regular Holo-Doomers description.

The English version doesn’t have a connection between the two descriptions like that there.

--

Re:ホロ・アイスドラゴン

かつて 存在した、古代のドラゴンという 生命体の データから 生み出された ホログラフだが、もしかしたら 今でもまだ どこかの 島の どうくつの おく深くで、 ひそかに 生きのびて いるのかも しれない。

Re:Holo-Ice Dragon

This hologram was created from the data of an ancient organic life form called a dragon, which has existed in the past, but it is also possible that they secretly continue to live on, deep inside a cave on an island somewhere.

Holo-Ice Dragon 2.0

This hologram was created from an ancient dragon. Dragons are no longer seen, but one of them may still be living quietly in a cave on an island somewhere. Who knows?

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description is mostly the same, except for a small detail that might be a bit confusing, but I’ll try to explain it.

-

There is some potential issue here regarding the usage of plural versus singular.

In my translation of the Japanese version, I have the description refer to dragons in a general sense, rather than one individual dragon.

The English version chose to use singular instead, for the most part.

As I mentioned before, there usually is no clear distinction between plural and singular in Japanese, so either way could work here.

That being said, the English version would still be slightly off, because if one chooses to use singular for the translation here, it has to be applied to all of the text.

If I were to apply singular for my own translation, it would become this:

This hologram was created from the data of an ancient organic life form called a dragon, which has existed in the past, but it is also possible that it secretly continues to live on, deep inside a cave on an island somewhere.

Therefore, the English version’s line “Dragons are no longer seen, but one of them (...)” would be inaccurate for that approach.

It should at least be something like “This dragon is no longer seen, but it (...)” instead.

At the end of the day, I don’t think the specifics actually matter much in this case right here, but I still wanted to explain them.

--

Re:ホロ・ガラーガ

このモンスターが いたという 天空の国が 存在 するらしいが、いまだ キカイ化の しんりゃくが とうたつ できていない もよう。 この星には まだ、様ざまな みかいの エリアが 残されていることが うかがえる。

Re:Holo-Garāga

It appears that the land of the sky where this monster is said to be from really exists, but the mechanization invasion seemingly has yet to reach it. It's clear that there are still many uncivilized areas left on this planet.

Holo-C. Rattler 2.0

It is said that the People of the Sky who enshrined this monster still exist. It seems that the mechanization invasion has not reached them, due to their remote location.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

There are some slight alterations in this description.

-

Like before, “land of the sky” is changed to “People of the Sky”, so my notes on that also apply here.

-

The Japanese version has the narrator note that the supposed land of the sky apparently does exist, but the English version has the narrator say that the People of the Sky “still” exist.

The latter would imply that from the perspective of our vague narrator, the People of the Sky were known, but also previously thought to possibly not exist anymore.

In contrast, the former implies the land of the sky is only just being discovered.

-

Next, the Japanese version notes that there are still many “uncivilized areas” on Pop Star, following the prior statement that the land of the sky has yet to be reached by the invasion.

The English version changes this to stating that the People of the Sky have yet to be reached by the invasion “due to their remote location”.

This might have been an intentional change to sound less demeaning, but I can’t say for sure.

Really, this mostly changes the narrator’s attitude about the situation, since the Japanese phrasing still would imply that the company just needs more time to reach Floralia and other locations further away from their operations.

Also just for the reference, the word “areas” is once again the same one they use for the game’s main levels as well, keeping with the game’s aesthetic.

-

As an aside, the general narrator of these descriptions is not really a character, so slight differences in their limited knowledge and attitude about the world like in the two previous points are not that big of a deal.

But it’s interesting to me that in this description right here for example, the Japanese version of the narrator seems to roughly reflect the knowledge and attitude that the Haltmann Works Company would have.

In other places, the narrator’s knowledge and general perspective does shift to other sides too, I’m guessing to fit the mood that works best for each description.

-

Also, I mentioned in the last part how it’s strange that the English version didn’t just go for the shorter “Holo-Rattler” as the name, and this choice comes back to haunt them here, cause they had to spell “Holo-Coily Rattler 2.0″ as “Holo-C. Rattler 2.0″ to make it fit.

--

Re:秘書スージー

おさないころ、マザーコンピューターの 起動 じっけん時に じこに まきこまれ、ゆくえふめい となった という。時がたち、何を思い、ふたたび カンパニーに もぐりこんだので あろうか。 フルネームは「スザンナ ファミリア ハルトマン」。

Re:Secretary Susie

As a young child, she was supposedly involved in an accident during an experimental start-up of the Mother Computer, and went missing. (1) Whatever she may be thinking, some time later she must have snuck her way into the company once more. Her full name is "Susanna Familia Haltmann".

Susie 2.0

As a child, Sue [sic] was involved in an accident during a Mother Computer experiment and went missing. Why has she joined the company after all this time? Her full name is Susanna Patrya Haltmann.

Translation Note:

What I translated as “experimental start-up” could also be translated as “start-up experiment”, or the like.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

In the Japanese version, Susie’s middle name is “Familia”, which was changed to “Patrya” in the English version.

The Japanese one is probably based on the English word “family” or maybe even “familiar”, alluding to the story going on with her, and keeping with that Western influence they go for with her and the company.

I’m guessing the English version changed it because “Familia” might’ve seemed too on the nose about it?

Going by that, I think “Patrya” might be based on something like “patriarch” and related terms, which would also allude to the story surrounding Susie’s character.

The actual description is mostly the same, just rephrased to be shorter.

-

In the Japanese version it’s stated that the experiment during which Susie went missing was one about starting the Mother Computer, which ends up omitted in English.

Not hugely important, but interesting if you care about finer specifics of the story.

-

The Japanese version also mentions that Susie later “snuck her way” into the company, implying some obfuscation of details on her part when she joined.

That detail can already be inferred from the story alone, so not as much of a loss.

-

The US English version refers to Susie as “Sue” in this description for some reason.

I’m almost positive this was just a typo, since it seems very unlikely they would randomly introduce a second nickname for her only in this one screen.

The EU English version rephrased the first line slightly and fixed that spelling in the process, too.

--

強化量産メタナイトボーグ

メタナイトボーグのデータを もとにして 作られた、セキュリティマシンの量産型。 最新ぎじゅつにより かなり強化 されている。 もしも 実用化された場合、カンパニーの 戦力は ひやくてきに こう上するであろう。

Enhanced Mass-produced Meta Knight Borg

A mass-produced security machine model, built using data from the Meta Knight Borg as a basis. Its strength was enhanced considerably with the latest technology. If it were to be put into practical use, the company's military power would increase dramatically.

Stock Mecha Knight

This mass-production model is based on an upgraded Mecha Knight model. If this model goes into commercial production, the company's military power will dramatically increase.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

The ”Enhanced Mass-produced Meta Knight Borg“ had its name changed to “Stock Mecha Knight“, because yeah, there was probably no way to make a more literal translation fit here.

I think going for “Stock” here is pretty clever, boiling down the idea to its bare essentials, and with such little space, too.

The actual description is mostly the same, just rephrased to be slightly shorter.

-

The English version’s phrasing does make it sound like Stock Mecha Knight was based on Mecha Knight+ in particular, whereas the Japanese version has it be based on the data of the regular Mecha Knight.

--

Re:クローンデデデ

声も すがたも まるでデデデ大王 と同じだが、 その心まで クローン化する ことは だんねんした。 いくつかの しさくでは、食べ物ばかり もとめたり、 とある こん虫を やたらと おそれたりと、 兵士として、不完全で あったため である。

Re:Clone Dedede

Its voice and appearance are just like King Dedede, but they have given up on cloning his heart, too. This is because there were several prototypes only interested in food, or exceedingly afraid of a certain insect, as well as other aspects that made them imperfect soldiers.

Dedede Clone 2.0

It has the look and voice of King Dedede, but not his soul. Some things can't be cloned. Some of the trial models were only interested in food, some were fearful of a certain insect, and all were imperfect.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

There is a pretty significant alteration or possible error in this description.

-

In the Japanese version, it’s stated that the company has given up on cloning Dedede’s “heart” because several prototypes ended up being imperfect soldiers.

What this means is that cloning his “heart” is actually possible for them to some extent, but since that causes the clones to take on parts of Dedede’s personality, it made them worse as soldiers.

So, they have given up on cloning the heart specifically because the clones having one has proven to be a detriment for their purposes.

In the English version, it’s instead stated that the company is unable to clone Dedede’s “soul”, because “some things can’t be cloned”.

In turn, the issues with the trial models are also implied to be unrelated general cloning issues.

So, while the Japanese version somewhat eerily states that cloning a heart is possible, but the company is now making the clones heartless on purpose, the English version seems like almost the complete opposite and states that cloning a soul is just not possible.

This could have been a translation error, but it could also be that the English localizers wanted to avoid crossing a certain line here and thus changed it intentionally.

-

Continuing from the previous point though, you may have noticed that the Japanese version uses “heart” while the English version uses “soul”.

The actual Japanese word used here is 心/kokoro, which is most commonly translated as “heart”, but it can also be translated as “soul” like the English version did - and also as “mind”, or even “feelings”, as well as other things like that depending on the context.

Because of that, it can have different connotations than just the English word “soul” on its own.

I think “heart” is a broad enough term that it works well here, and the Kirby series has a frequent heart motif as well, so I went with that, personally.

The term will also be brought up again in future descriptions down the line, so keep it in mind for later.

--

Re:クローンデデデ&D3砲

この立体砲台は とてつもなく高がくで、 ウィスピーウッズや メタナイトの サイボーグ化の なんと4倍。あの ギガヴォルトより 50億ハルトマニー も 高い。それでも、ハルトマンの乗る、純金の 「プレジデンバー」の 4分の1ほど ではある。

Re:Clone Dedede & D3 Cannon

This three-dimensional artillery is extremely expensive, costing no less than four times more than the cybernetic conversions of Whispy Woods and Meta Knight. It even surpasses the Gigavolt by 5 billion Haltmoney. However, that is still only about a quarter of what the "Presidenver" that Haltmann rides is worth, which is made of pure gold.

Dedede Cl. & D3 2.0

This tridimensional cannon is extremely expensive, costing a whopping four times more than Mecha Knight. However, it's still much cheaper than Haltmann's Executive Suit, which is made of pure gold.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description is mostly accurate, just rewritten to be shorter.

-

The English version simplifies the different cost comparisons in this description a lot, which is mostly expendable information, so that’s understandable.

Still, since the Japanese version has the room for it, it’s fun to see it continue with the trend of comedically focusing how much everything costs compared to one another, going with the themes of the game.

-

Also, Haltmann’s own mech is revealed to be called “Presidenver” in Japanese, which was changed to “Executive Suit” in English.

Either one goes along with the name of Susie’s mech, but since its name was omitted in the English version, this fact doesn’t come across there.

“Presidenver” is pretty self-explanatory, just adding “president” to “Rereinver”.

“Executive Suit” might be a play on “executive suite”, which is pretty amusing to me.

--

Re:プレジデント・ハルトマン

フルネームは「ゲインズ インカム ハルトマン」。 かつて ひとり娘を じこで なくし、それいらい 人の心も きおくさえも すて、カンパニーの成長の ためだけに 生きる男。だがそれも、娘に ふたたび会いたい ただその ねがいを かなえるため であったのだが…。

Re:President Haltmann

His full name is "Gains Income Haltmann". He once lost his only daughter in an accident, and ever since then, the man has been casting aside his heart and even his memories, living only for the sake of his company's growth. But even that too was only for the sake of granting his wish - to see his daughter once more...

Pres. Haltmann 2.0

His full name is Max Profitt Haltmann. Ever since losing his only child, he's dedicated his life to his company. However, his only wish is to see his daughter once again.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

In Japanese, Haltmann’s given and middle names are “Gains Income”, which was changed to “Max Profitt” in the English version.

“Gains Income” is obviously taken directly from “gains income”. Aside from probably referring to the fact that he’s about earning money, this also is another English-sounding name to go with the company’s aesthetic.

“Max Profitt” is a similar play on earning money, but done in a way that works better as a pun-based name for English-speaking audiences.

The actual description has one fairly notable omission in particular.

-

In the Japanese version, it’s specifically stated that Haltmann has been “casting aside his heart and even his memories“, which is not mentioned in English.

The fact that Haltmann doesn’t have all his memories anymore is crucial to understanding the story at this point, so leaving this out caused a lot of confusion for English-speaking fans around the time of the game’s release.

It would eventually be brought up again during the second Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon, so fans did get to learn about this, but it was still an inconvenience.

Not to mention that Miiverse has since been shut down.

The detail about Haltmann’s “heart” is interesting as well, since it gives additional insight into how Haltmann has presumably grown more callous over the years as well, rather than starting out the way we see him in the present day.

For the reference, the English Miiverse post adapted this as “compassion”, which works perfectly fine in this context, too.

-

The US English version doesn’t mention that Haltmann specifically lost his only child in an accident, but the EU English version actually included that part, too.

So I’m not really sure why the US English version omitted the “accident” detail.

--

クローン剣士ダークマター

星の夢に 入力されている データの中でも かなりの 強さをほこる 黒き剣の使い手。 クローン化に せいこうした ものの、かいせきは データの 一部に すぎず、その正体について いまだ、全ようかいめい には いたっていない。

Clone Swordfighter Dark Matter

Among the data that has been entered into Star Dream, this dark sword user boasts especially tremendous strength. Although it was cloned successfully, only part of its data has been analyzed, and its true nature has yet to be confirmed with certainty as of right now. (1)

Dark Matter Clone

Creating this dark swordsman pushed Star Dream to the limits of its abilities. The cloning process was a success, but only a partial data analysis was possible, and its true form has not yet emerged.

Translation Note:

The word I translated as “true nature” could also be translated as “true identity”, or other things along those lines. Either could potentially work in this context.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

“Clone Swordfighter Dark Matter” is shortened to “Dark Matter Clone”, most likely for space.

The US English version of the True Arena labels this boss as “Dark Matter Blade”, so I wonder if they originally intended to reflect the “swordfighter” part in the name as well, but partially dropped it.

The actual description has a few potential errors or changes.

-

In the Japanese version, it’s stated that Dark Matter Blade is one of the strongest included within Star Dream’s data.

The English version instead states that cloning him pushed Star Dream “to the limits of its abilities”.

This could have been a translation error, but it could also have been an intentional rewrite.

-

As mentioned in the translation note, I can’t say for sure if the Japanese version is supposed to refer to Dark Matter Blade’s “true nature” or “true identity” not having been confirmed yet.

The relevant line could either be referring to Dark Matter Blade’s true form, which the clone does take on during the battle, but it could also be referring to the other general mysteries about Dark Matter and its background.

Either way could work in this context, so I went with “true nature” in my translation, because you can read either interpretation into it.

The English version specifically goes for “true form” here, but also changes “has yet to be confirmed” to “has not yet emerged”.

So the implications are slightly different there.

--

クローンセクトニア

この星の しんりゃく時に 見つけた 巨大な 植物の花から データを さいしゅ。不思議なことに、 こん虫の 女王の剣士の クローンが 生まれた。 データには 1000年にも およぶ 様ざまな 生物のデータが ふくまれており、ナゾがたえない。

Clone Sectonia

Data was collected from the flower of a giant plant that was discovered during the invasion of this planet. Curiously, it produced the clone of an insect queen swordswoman. The data includes that of various organisms, spanning a period of over 1000 years. The mysteries continue.

Sectonia Clone

Data was collected from traces of a giant flower the invaders stumbled upon. Cloning it produced the insect queen. Its data contains elements of creatures spanning a period of 1,000 years.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This description is mostly the same, just rephrased to be a bit shorter.

The switch from “Clone Sectonia” to “Sectonia Clone” is probably just to sound a bit more natural in English.

--

ギャラクティックナイト リターンズ

その力ゆえ おそれられてきた、全てを ほろぼし かねない 古の剣士。クローンではなく、未知なる 異空間ロードから 時空をこえ よびさまされた。 様ざまな時代で ふういん されてきた きろくが 残るが、しょうめつ させることは できていない。

Galactic Knight Returns

An ancient swordfighter, capable of destroying everything, who has come to be feared due to his power. He is not a clone - he has been awoken across time and space, from the unknown Another Dimension Road. There are records left behind of him having been sealed away in various eras, but he has yet to be destroyed completely.

Galacta Knight Returns

This ancient swordsman is feared for his immense power. He is not a clone. He was awakened and brought here via an extra-dimensional road beyond the space-time continuum.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

“Galactic Knight Returns” is renamed to “Galacta Knight Returns” in English.

This matches how this character has always been called in the English versions of Kirby games, of course.

The actual description is mostly accurate, just shorter, but the final sentence has been omitted entirely.

-

In the Japanese version, the final sentence provides some neat insight into Galacta Knight’s background, particularly the impact he has apparently had on people across history.

It’s a shame this is missing in the English version, but they most certainly couldn’t make it fit.

-

The “Another Dimension Road” is mentioned here again, which I already went over when I covered Meta Knightmare Returns, so all my notes there also apply here.

The English version again adapts it as “extra-dimensional road“, staying consistent with what they used in the cutscene.

--

星の夢.Soul OS (First Phase)

未知ノ ダメージに ヨリ、最終プログラムが アンロック。 アノ生命体ヲ ハイジョ デキる カクリツは、99.99% トナル。タダ ハルトマンと イウ 生命体の「ココロ」と いうモノが 不要なソンザイ とナル モヨウ。 コレヨリ、ハルトマンのメモリーの 消去ヲ カイシスル。

Star Dream.Soul OS (First Phase)

Unknown DAMAGE HAS CAUSED the final program TO be UNLOCKED. PROBABILITY OF ELIMINATING THAT organic life form is NOW AT 99.99%. ONLY THE OBJECT called the "HEART" of the organic life form CALLED HALTMANN WILL LIKELY PROVE TO BE innecessary. NOW INITIATING erasure of THE MEMORY OF HALTMANN. (1)

Star Dream Soul OS (First Phase)

The final program has been activated. Its calculated victory probability is 99.9%. However, a small part of Haltmann's soul is yet to be purged, which could throw a wrench in its plans.

Translation Note:

The literal term used in Japanese here is メモリー /memorī, which is a transliteration of the English word “memory”. This is normally used to refer to computer memory, rather than a person’s memories. Though the double-meaning might be intentional in this context.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

There are some notable details in this description.

-

First of all, the Japanese version is once again written from the perspective of Star Dream, as seen by its unmistakable speaking style.

However, unlike in the main story, Star Dream does not refer to itself in first-person here at any point.

Since the Soul OS battle seems to roughly follow after the events of Meta Knightmare Returns, this might reflect how Star Dream presumably never gained its own sense of self in that scenario, but that’s just a guess on my part.

Either way, in the English version this description does not seem to be written directly from Star Dream’s perspective.

If this is the case, it might have been an oversight, but I can’t say for sure.

I do think this is a shame, because it’s a nice callback to its final pause screen from the main story, and also may become more impactful once you see the remaining pause screens from this current boss battle.

-

A smaller detail, but the Japanese version specifies that the final program was unlocked by “Unknown DAMAGE”, which may refer to the cut done by Galacta Knight - as it can still be seen on Star Dream here.

This gives this boss battle a stronger connection to the events of Meta Knightmare Returns, even if the continuity of these extra mode stories is rather vague, of course.

-

This next detail will take a bit longer to go over, so bear with me.

In the English version, it’s stated that Star Dream has yet to purge “a small part” of Haltmann’s “soul”, and that this could be detrimental for it.

But in the Japanese version, Star Dream instead comes to the conclusion that Haltmann’s “HEART” will be innecessary. It also proceeds with the erasure of the “MEMORY” of Haltmann, which the English version does not yet bring up.

This results in some different potential implications here.

In the English version, the usage of “soul” would suggest that this must be Haltmann’s actual soul or spirit, but it’s not quite the same in Japanese.

While these extra stories only have vague continuity, keep in mind that as far as we know, Haltmann was never actually taken over directly by Star Dream in this scenario.

If this was meant to refer to Haltmann’s spirit, they could’ve easily used the same word for spirit they used during the final battle of the main story.

But instead, they use the same term “heart” that has already come up before in the descriptions for Dedede Clone 2.0 and Haltmann 2.0, which this current description also seems to follow up on.

Just like in the Dedede Clone 2.0 description, a heart is deemed as a flaw by Star Dream here. And we know from the Haltmann 2.0 description that Haltmann has been casting aside his own heart too, in a way.

This goes into speculation territory, but one could assume based on this that the “heart” of Haltmann which Star Dream currently possesses is the same heart that Haltmann has cast aside, either literally or figuratively.

Again, remember how the Dedede Clone 2.0 description confirmed that a heart is something that can artificially be reproduced in some form, so it wouldn’t have to literally be the same.

In any case, Star Dream’s method to rid itself of this “heart” is to start erasing the “MEMORY” of Haltmann.

This could mean that at the very least, the memories that Haltmann has lost over the years are stored or documented within Star Dream in some form.

Though not from the pause screen, further evidence of this is the fact that the objects summoned by Star Dream during its respective third phase are officially called “MEMORIES”.

And while they are all parts of Galactic Nova, they also all relate to specific details about Haltmann that were revealed in a Nintendo Dream interview (June 2016 issue.)

The Soul OS version of the attack also adds piano keys, a possible reference to Susie’s own profile mentioning that she plays the piano.

-

That last point was rather long, so to summarize it briefly:

While the English version suggests that Star Dream here contains Haltmann’s soul or spirit, much like in the main story, the situation appears to be a bit different in Japanese, given how the term “heart” can be used - and how it has been used in the game so far.

--

星の夢.Soul OS (Second-Final Phase)

だれが 何のために 作ったのかさえ 分からない。 そんなモノを なぜ わたしは 起動 させてしまったの だろうか。そうだ、かなえたい夢が あったはずだ… あぁ だが、マシンが 夢など かなえては くれない というのは、もう 分かっていたこと だというのに…

Star Dream.Soul OS (Second-Final Phase)

I don't even know who made it or for what purpose. Why would I activate something like that? That's right, I think I had a dream I wanted to be fulfilled... Ahh, but I already knew that a machine could never make dreams come true, and yet I...

Star Dream Soul OS (Second-Final Phase)

"Why did I reactivate such a terrible machine? Oh, I remember -- I wanted to see her just one last time. How foolish! I should have known that no machine could make such a dream come true."

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

Just like the previous one, there are several notable details about this description.

-

Now, in both versions, this pause screen appears to be from Haltmann’s perspective, though the English version actually added quotation marks to it.

This could have been to make it more clear that this is from a specific person’s perspective, but the same was never done with Star Dream’s narration.

There could be another reason for this, which I’ll go over next.

-

Here’s a subtle detail you might not have caught.

While this is most likely Haltmann narrating here, the Japanese version has him refer to himself with the first person pronoun わたし/watashi.

In the actual story, he only ever used ワシ/washi to refer to himself.

But here’s the thing: in fiction, having a character refer to themselves as ワシ/washi is generally used to indicate that the character is old, and just by comparison, わたし/watashi sounds younger.

This could imply that this quote might in fact be from a time where Haltmann was at least somewhat younger than he is now.

In other words, a memory from the past, rather than a current thought in the present.

Being shown a memory of Haltmann at this point would also fit with Star Dream’s narration from the previous pause screen.

Because of that, I think the English version could be using the quotation marks to indicate this temporal distance, since they can’t really show it in the same way the Japanese version does.

But I can’t say for sure if that was the intent.

-

The Japanese version has Haltmann mention that he did not know who made the machine he’s talking about here, which is most likely Star Dream.

Interesting backstory tidbit there, if you’re curious about these.

-

Also in the Japanese version, Haltmann believes that a machine can’t actually make dreams come true in general. Though, we can’t know if he is correct about that.

In the English version, Haltmann only comes to the conclusion that no machine could make his specific dream come true.

-

On that note, Haltmann is never shown to recall what his dream was in the first place in Japanese, he only says that he must have had one.

In the English version, he explicitly remembers wanting to see “her” again being his dream.

It seems like almost a given that Haltmann’s dream here is referring to his wish of being reunited with his daughter, so it makes sense that the English version would change the text to make it obvious.

There is a non-zero chance that Haltmann actually had another dream, but that’s a whole different topic.

--

星の夢.Soul OS (Final Phase)

このコアからも ハルトマンのメモリーは、消えた。 最後に想う あの心も、消えた。その瞬間より 星の夢は 完全な 存在から ただの こわれたマシン となる。 夢も見ない、ゴハンも食べない、そんな あいては もはや、星のカービィの てきでは なかった!

Star Dream.Soul OS (Final Phase)

Haltmann's memory has disappeared from this core, too. And in the end, that feeling heart disappeared as well. That very moment, Star Dream turns from a perfect being into a mere broken machine. It doesn't have dreams, it doesn't even eat lunch - an opponent like that no longer stands any chance against Kirby of the Stars!

Star Dream Soul OS (Final Phase)

All of Haltmann's memories have been deleted from the OS. Even his soul-- the last trace of Haltmann--has vanished. Star Dream has gone from a near- perfect being to a cold, mindless machine.

-

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This is the final description, so of course there is a lot to say again.

-

A minor detail, but in the Japanese version it’s said that the memory of Haltmann has now disappeared from “this core”, which is pretty straightforward, all things considered.

For some reason, the US English version instead says that Haltmann’s memories have been deleted “from the OS”, and the EU English version says they have been deleted “from the Mother Computer”.

This is also the first time the memories are brought up in English at all, so their relevance is a lot less clear.

And another minor detail related to this one.

I believe the specific phrasing of “disappeared from this core, too” in Japanese is meant to refer to the fact that Haltmann’s memories had already been lost by the man himself.

At least, that makes the most sense to me.

-

Once again, the English version uses “soul” where the Japanese version used “heart”.

The distinction between the two becomes especially important here, because while the English version says it’s the “soul” of Haltmann, the Japanese text is more vague about it.

Of course, the first Japanese pause screen of this battle did refer to it as the “heart” of Haltmann, but at the same time, remember that this would have basically been Star Dream’s own heart as well.

This also seems to be the implication going by the lines that follow afterwards.

-

Interestingly, the Japanese version describes Star Dream as having been a “perfect being”, whereas the English version just goes for “near-perfect being”.

This is very similar to how they changed Kirby’s energy from being described as “infinite” to “nearly infinite” in the main story.

I suppose they just don’t want to deal in absolutes with these.

The English version also goes on to describe Star Dream as now being a “cold, mindless machine”, instead of just a “broken machine” like in Japanese, which has different implications.

Star Dream being actually broken and not functioning as it should is another point that Kumazaki reiterated during the second Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon, so that’s another plot detail the English version technically omits here.

The English phrasing also leans more into the idea of Star Dream being a scary opponent, while the Japanese phrasing leans more into the idea of Star Dream being something pitiful - a similar sentiment to the descriptions of the main story’s final battle.

-

Adding to the point above, the English version also omits the final part of this last description.

The phrase “It doesn’t have dreams, it doesn’t even eat lunch“ references a recurring concept first introduced in the manual of Kirby’s Adventure - the fact that the people of Dream Land, and Kirby especially, love to take naps after lunch to have fun dreams.

This was referenced in the Japanese version of Kirby Super Star as well, where the pause screen description during the Starship segment of Milky Way Wishes features the line:

マルクのやぼうを さっさとくいとめ、 ゴハンたべて ねよう。

Let's stop Marx real quick, then have lunch and a nap.

That’s another Milky Way Wishes connection only in the Japanese version, but said line also wasn’t featured in the English version of Kirby Super Star in the first place.

And since the “Kirby of the Stars” title is also not really used in the English localizations of the Kirby series, it would have been hard to make this final bit of the pause description work, even if space weren’t an issue.

I think the Japanese version is stronger for having it, but there probably wasn’t much the English version could have done about this.

-

With all of the point-by-point comparisons out of the way here, I want to take a moment to go into some general thoughts on this battle as a whole and what each version implies about it.

Naturally this will have a bit more speculation on my part too, so keep that in mind.

If you only look at the English version, the implication you get is that during the Star Dream Soul OS battle, Star Dream is fused with Haltmann’s actual soul, in a similar manner to the events of the main story. (Even though those events may not have happened in the extra scenarios.)

It must be Haltmann’s own soul, because the English Dedede Clone 2.0 description states that a soul cannot be cloned.

Star Dream then proceeds to delete Haltmann’s last memories as well as his soul, because Haltmann’s soul had a chance of stopping its plan. (Even though it had no apparent issues about fusing with his spirit in the main story.)

Therefore, during this battle Haltmann is essentially killed “deader than dead” by Star Dream, for the lack of a better wording - his very soul eradicated for good.

The middle pause screen during the battle may be thought of as Haltmann’s final thoughts before ultimate oblivion in this interpretation.

I don’t think this is just what I myself take away from the English version, because this is the most common interpretation I have seen from English-speaking fans over the years.

It can come across as a tragedy in which Haltmann is finally destroyed for good by a terrible machine he could never truly control.

Now, onto the Japanese version.

The exact details leave more room for speculation, because of how vague the term 心/kokoro or “heart” can be.

But the way I understand it is that Star Dream has been storing the memories that Haltmann has been losing over the years.

In addition to that, it would likely have data on Haltmann’s current memories and thoughts as well, as seen in the main story.

From this, it gained the “heart” of Haltmann, or at least a partial reproduction of it, allowing it to feel and think in a way similar to Haltmann. Just like the early Dedede clones with cloned hearts acting similar to King Dedede in various ways.

However, Star Dream never fuses with Haltmann’s spirit in the extra scenarios.

Because of that, it never gains its own sense of self, and fails to understand the purpose of a heart, deeming it a potential flaw to be purged, just as it did with the updated Dedede clones.

Thus, it deletes the memories of Haltmann, which brought about the heart in the first place, and thus loses said heart again, becoming a lifeless object once more - no longer able to think and feel anything.

And there is another subtle detail in the Japanese version related to that, too.

During this battle, the first description is narrated by Star Dream, the second seems to show a memory of Haltmann, and the final one goes back to the general narrator.

This could possibly represent the transition of Star Dream starting out with that heart, sifting through the memories to delete them, and finally having become just a machine again, so it no longer has any thoughts that could serve as the narration.

This potentially paints the Soul OS battle specifically more as a tragedy of Star Dream itself. A machine that achieved the miracle of being alive with a heart, but proceeded to undo said miracle all on its own, without even realizing what it was really doing.

Also, Kumazaki only specified this on Miiverse, but Haltmann losing his memories from overusing Star Dream was also because it was broken.

So this was never something that was supposed to really happen in this way, had it functioned properly.

Overall, Star Dream can feel like more of a tragic figure in the Japanese version, and more of a villainous figure in the English one.

Several small differences between the versions across the game reflect this, with moments painting Start Dream as pitiful or even pathetic being altered or omitted.

However, this is a very general summary of it, the Japanese version still has Star Dream being the main antagonist, and the English version has plenty of moments where the tragic aspects to Star Dream are still apparent.

--

Final Thoughts on the Pause Screens:

First, let me say, I am very impressed by the English localization of these pause screens.

Really, look up these screens for yourself some time, they pushed these to their limits. Almost every single one of them is crammed full with as much text as they could possibly fit in.

Yes, they still had to cut a lot out here and there, but clearly not from lack of trying.

Of course, the fact of the matter still ends up being that the Japanese version simply has more good stuff in it.

A lot of stuff is “expendable”, but losing fun fluff all the time adds up, I feel.

The extra modes pause screens especially also feature a few major errors or alterations, as well as omissions that do end up being detrimental to the story in some form.

The biggest one I feel is the fact that Haltmann’s memory loss is not brought up at all, because that one detail is the puzzle piece that makes everything fall into place and let’s the player finally understand what is going on with the emotional core of the story.

So much of the details regarding Star Dream are up to interpretation, so I’m perfectly willing to let the broader details be, but the Japanese version still does a better job of dropping small details earlier on that become relevant for it at the end.

And it’s not just Star Dream, the Japanese version overall has more of these smaller connections and continuity across the pause screens, and connections to the actual story contents as well. So they feel more like smaller pieces in a carefully crafted whole, where everything is interconnected and enriches the story.

Again, the English version probably couldn’t have done much different here, due to the difficult conditions translators and localizers usually have to work with - lack of context, lack of time, limited space, etc.

I guess what I am getting at is that I do prefer the Japanese version, and would recommend fans to check it out (though if you are reading this, I suppose you already have), but don’t assume this means I have a disdain for English version.

It’s very well done, considering the circumstances.

--

And with that, my coverage of the game’s pause screen descriptions come to a close as well.

Feel free to check out the previous parts of my Kirby: Planet Robobot translation comparisons if you haven’t already, and thank you very much for reading!

--

< Previous Part | Start | 

--

[nightspeckle]

Jurdan Summer Au part 2

Description: 

Cardan and Jude have been summering with each other since they were babies. They have spent every summer at the beach together but they have never been friends, until now.

Part 1 

*****

Jude woke the next morning to the sounds of the ocean waves and seagulls squawking. The sun from the window was heating her already pink skin. She could hear her family from downstairs, they were what woke her up. Back home she would have been infuriated and yet at the beach house, she couldn’t care less. 

When she looked over to Taryn’s bed it was already empty. Of course. 

Downstairs Madoc and Vivi were eating breakfast in the kitchen. When Jude got closer she could hear them bickering again. 

“Vivienne, how many times do I have to tell you to get a job?” Madoc was pushing his eggs around his plate in a menacing way. 

Vivi just sighed “I have to work on my art portfolio if I have any chance of getting into the art school I want. I just don’t have enough time.”

Madoc went to open his mouth again and Jude decided to step in before it turned into the screaming match it had been for the past few weeks. 

“Where’s Taryn?”

“Guess” Vivi supplied and Jude knew exactly where she was.

“Great,” Jude huffed while pouring herself a bowl of cereal. 

When Jude sat down she saw Vivi was still in her PJs. “What are you doing today?”

Viv smiled apologetically at Jude, “I’m going to the studio in town to get started,”

Madoc cut Vivi a glance that reeked of disapproval before shifting his focus to Jude. 

“Why don’t you come with me and Eldred, we’re going on a hike to dragonfly cove,” Madoc looked gleeful at the prospect of spending the day with his daughter.

Jude could think of a hundred things she would rather do than go hiking with two old dads. 

Madoc could sense Jude's lack of desire and scrambled to entice her. “I’ll enforce a mandatory family dinner on Taryn tonight if you come,”

Jude knew that it wasn’t exactly very cool of her to want to force her sister to spend time with her. But it was only their second day at the beach and none of her work friends were out of school yet, so although it was selfish she didn't mind. 

“Alright,” She mumbled. Madoc’s face turned giddy.

“Perfect we're leaving at 9:30, so hurry up,”

Jude looked at the clock on the stove to see it read 9:15 and just rolled her eyes before polishing off her cereal and heading up the stairs to go change. She just couldn’t wait for a hike with her dad and his old friend!

...

When Jude piled into the back of the jeep she didn’t expect to see another child who had been roped into this hike. Cardan had his head rested against the seat. He didn’t say anything as Jude climbed back into the seat. 

When Madoc jumped into the passenger seat he cracked a smile at Cardan. “I see Eldred must have bribed you into joining too,”

“Bribed?” Eldred asked while he started up the jeep.

“I bribed Jude so she would come along, did you not?” Madoc asked.

“Of course not, I just made him,” Madoc looked at Eldred as if he was a genius. Jude just prayed Madoc wouldn’t get any ideas about forcing her into family bonding. That would not go over well. 

The top of the jeep was off and Jude's ponytailed hair started to flutter around her. She had almost forgotten Cardan was there while she watched the world around her pass by. 

“What did he bribe you with?” When Jude turned back to Cardan she could see a gleam of curiosity in his eyes. He had put an arm around the back of the seats and tilted to face her more. 

Jude was immediately embarrassed as she had agreed to Madocs terms. She didn’t want anyone else knowing how she was using her dad to make her sister spend time with her. 

When it was clear Jude was not going to spill Madoc piped up from the front. “I promised to make Taryn come home for dinner tonight,”

Jude slumped back into her seat with a sigh feeling defeated. She expected Cardan to comment on how pathetic that was but when she looked over at him he was smirking. 

“I should probably thank you for that,” Cardan said playfully. 

“It’s what friends do,” Jude jokes.

The smile Cardan sent her way was nothing like she had ever seen from him. He was looking at her like they truly were friends, like being able to smile together was normal. 

Jude was starting to wonder why she had spent her childhood constantly writing him off. She had never liked how he disregarded her when they were younger. She had always felt that he thought that Jude and Taryn were beneath him. 

But the way he was acting now made her question everything in the past. Maybe she was wrong about him. 

Jude spent the rest of the drive to dragonfly cove with her fingers dangling out of the jeep. She spent her time getting distracted by the passing green trees and the feeling of the summer sun. The only thing that kept drawing her attention back to the car was the constant terrible sound of her father's and Eldred's voices singing along to their summer reggae playlist.

She couldn’t help herself but make eye contact with Cardan when both of their fathers voices cracked. Cardan laughed then, the sound filling Jude with a certain lightness. She couldn’t help but laugh herself. 

Jude was having a much better time on her Dad's usually boring adventures. When Jude looked over at the black haired boy next to her she knew he played a larger role in it than she wanted to admit. 

This was not good.

...

Dragonfly Cove was not a particularly popular place to hike. The reason for that being that there was one trail. It went from the parking lot down to the beach 50 feet below. The path to the cove event consisted of a set of wooden stairs with rails on both sides. 

If you were to ask anyone outside of the Greenbriar and Duarte families they would say that Dragonfly Cove is not a place to hike. Instead, they would refer to it as a small beach that required a short walk to reach. 

If you asked Madoc and Eldred they would tell you that Dragonfly Cove was the best place to hike out of anywhere in the area.

If you asked their children they would tell you that hiking at Dragonfly Cove was toeing death itself. 

If after taking the path and stairs down to the beach, one were to travel to the end of the beach and climb over a massive rock they would be able to see the “hike” that Madoc and Eldred had taken their children on years prior.

The “hike” consisted of climbing up an extremely steep slope made of unstable rocks and ledges. There had been many close calls of falling in the past. Orianna had even forbidden Madoc to try and reach the top of the cliff ever again. 

Now standing at the bottom of the cliff Jude was thinking that Madoc should listen to Orianna much more. She was certain looking up at the incline that she would face certain death. 

Eldred and Madoc had already taken off. Surprisingly for their age, they seemed to have no problem scaling an unstable cliff.

“Afraid Jude?” The smug voice to her left startled her.

When she turned to look at Cardan she saw the amusement in his eyes. 

“It seems even the fearless Jude herself is afraid,” He looked to be enjoying the way Jude was squirming at the idea of climbing up the cliff. 

She kept having flashbacks to the time a rock had given way under Taryn's feet. Jude had had to lunge to grab her sister's arm before she could tumble all the way down. 

“No need to worry Duarte, I’m sure we will be back down soon if you want to wait,” Cardan said with mock reassurance. Jude could tell by the look in his eyes that he was enjoying taunting her. 

Cardan took off towards the rocky slope without looking back. Jude’s hesitance at hiking the steep slope disappeared the second Cardan had alluded to her inability to do so. Jude Duarte was not one to ever be bested. She would show him.

Jude spent the first half of the “hike” solely paying attention to her feet. She refused to make a misstep or stumble. 

She could see how effortlessly Cardan was making his way up the incline above, she would not do worse than him. 

By the second half Jude had mastered the art of scaling a steep incline. She was doing so well that she even passed a delighted Madoc and enthusiastic Eldred. 

Jude's mood improved even more when she looked back to see Cardan a good distance behind her. 

She couldn’t help herself when her foot slipped the tiniest bit. “Are you alright down there Cardan?” 

Her smile grew when he sent her an annoyed look. “I’m sure your Dad would help you up the rest of the way if you want to wait,”

“I’m quite fine Duarte,” 

Cardan had gotten closer to catching up to Jude as they continued but she didn’t mind. She had still made it up there first, which was all she cared about anyways. 

The two of them stood at the top of the cliff looking out at the ocean quietly for a few minutes. They didn’t say anything to each other until they heard the telltale signs of their fathers down below. 

They both looked down to see Madoc and Eldred huffing for air and stumbling on the rocky terrain. It was amusing to watch their overconfident fathers falter on the hike they claimed toddlers could do. 

Jude watched Eldred slip on a rock and immediately looked to Cardan. When they made eye contact they couldn't help but burst out with laughter. 

After waiting for Madoc and Eldred to catch their breath at the top they headed back down. Jude found the descent to be extremely easy in comparison and managed to beat everyone down to the bottom. Cardan was in her heels the whole time but that was a fact she would choose to omit if anyone asked. 

Cardan continued to tease her (mainly about how she had walked into a pool of water without realizing) as they made their way back to the car. She had used to believe his teasing to be annoying and insufferable and now she couldn’t help but smile every time he had a snarky comment. 

Jude was on the verge of pinching herself every ten minutes. She couldn't believe she was actually enjoying herself. 

Madoc and Eldred decided it would be fun to go on an hour long drive by the coast. Something which Judge was surprisingly happy about.

They stopped on the way back at a farmers stand selling fresh fruit. Jude bought blueberries for Viv and a few peaches for herself and Taryn. Oak was in an anti-fruit faze at the moment. The discovery that tomatoes and olives were fruits sent him for a real loop.

Jude couldn’t help but laugh when Cardan’s peach was dripping all over his face and onto his shirt. 

Jude’s own peach dripped all over her when she took a bite. The taste was worth the stickiness. It was even worth Cardan's growing amusement. 

When they got closer and closer to the house Jude felt something strange deep within. It was a very small sliver of disappointment. One she was not happy to find. Was she disappointed she was going home? Or was it that her time hanging out with her dad, Eldred, and mainly Cardan was coming to an end?

Whatever the reason, she decided that ignoring it was the best course of action. 

When they pulled into the driveway she got out slowly. Now that she was done with her bribed time with her father what would she do? Taryn was probably still not home, Vivi was busy, and none of her local work friends were out of school. 

Whatever it was that she would do, she knew that it wouldn’t be as fun as this morning, that was something extremely surprising to her.

....

Jude ended up doing some summer reading outside on the porch for a bit. When Oak came home from wherever he had disappeared off to with Orianna she supervised him at the beach. 

She actually did enjoy herself but it wasn’t until dinner that she was truly having fun again. The families were eating together outside again. 

She ended up sitting next to Cardan and Viv who had come home 30 minutes before. Jude had a few moments where she caught herself smiling for no reason and laughing because of the dumbest things.

Dinners usually lasted for a few hours with the families in the summers. The parents would stay talking for longer than they would anywhere else. Jude who usually snuck out after 30 minutes to do something else ended up staying for a couple of hours. It wasn’t until Viv declared she was heading back that Jude did too. 

“You look happier than you did yesterday,” Viv commented when they got back to their house. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jude said amused.

“You’re smiling more you weirdo,”

Jude had been smiling more than the day before. When she looked back on the day it had mainly been because of Cardan. But there was no way that he was the reason for her smiles. Maybe it was just because he was funny.

Was Cardan funny? Jude wasn’t so sure about that. 

“Oh, whatever Viv,”

Vivian and Jude broke into the moose tracks ice cream and watched a movie before going to bed. When Jude crawled into her bed it was only 11:15 but she didn’t mind. 

It was only when she was about to go to sleep that she noticed Taryn’s bed was empty. Not only was she not there but Jude realized she hadn’t even shown up to dinner.

The funny thing was that Jude didn’t even care.

~~~

tags (or my one LOL) : 

@big-daddy-maddy

[animeyanderelover]

Hello 💖Could you do Tusnade and Sakura with a s/o who wants to learn medical nin?

It’s been a while since I posted anything about this girls.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessiveness, obsessiveness

s/o wants to be a medic

Tsunade Senju

🐌I can imagine that Tsunade might feel a bit conflicted about this. On the one hand she feels totally fluttered that her darling wants to be a medic just like she is because let’s be honest, Tsunade is the one who inspired you to be one. But on the other hand she’s also a bit worried that her darling might get hurt. The common view on medics is that they need to stay back in fights. And we all know how the Hokage thinks about this. She believes that medics need to know how to fight because they’re so important for the team. But what if you get hurt on a mission? What if she can’t save you? These are just worried thoughts in her mind since she experienced it already twice that she couldn’t save her loved ones.

🐌Tsunade adores her darling a lot, but I can see her going pretty roughly from time to time on her darling. She of course knows when you’re about to collapse and will stop there, but she will certainly push your limits every once in a while. She does it because she wants you to be good in what you do. Of course you won’t only learn how to heal and perform complicated medic jutsus. You’ll be also teached how to fight and that’s where Tsunade will really become strict. She’s a bit paranoid since she already lost important people to her and on a battlefield there’s always the danger that something might go wrong. You need to know how to fight against strong opponents. If you can’t do that, you can be prepared that she’ll never let you go on missions. Instead you’ll have to live with working in a hospital for the rest of your life. Of course she won’t say anything against it, if that’s what you want. Would be even relieved, knowing that you will most likely never have to be put in direct danger.

🐌Depending on where we are in the timeline there are also a bit different scenarios. If she trained you before Sakura, you would be some sort of assistant to her, a superior student who she would let teach the pink-haired girl from time to time too so you can gain experience. If you and Sakura started training around the same time, she might have a bit of a hard time since it’s somewhat obvious that she favors you. But Sakura will understand since she knows how important you are for Tsunade. If this is after Sakura started training and has already a lot more experience than you, than Sakura will sometimes teach you stuff with Tsunade watching from the side and Sakura will also of course always give you advices on how you can improve your skills.

🐌At one point you will start watching her when she does operations, assist most likely and learn by watching her. You yourself will most likely start with small surgeries with Tsunade keeping a hawks eye on you and instantly jumping in if you seem to have troubles. She wants you to improve, sure, but she won’t risk a patient’s life. But you are bound to improve with Tsunade as your teacher and after the first difficult surgery you pulled successfully off without her help, she most likely went with you for a sake night. I can see her teaching you how to use the Strenght of a Hundred seal and if you are good enough, you will most likely made her personal medic assistant. But no matter how good your jutsus are, she won’t let you go on missions with a high danger of being attacked by strong shinobi until she thinks that you are strong enough to fight on your own. It’s still clearly obvious that she favors you since she isn’t that strict and hard with you in comparison to all the other medics who work with her.

Sakura Haruno

🌸She would be definitely totally happy when she finds out that her darling wants to be a medic just like her and even more if they ask her personally for help. It makes her flustered with a slight blush on her face. She was most likely an inspiration for you since she used to be not the most outstanding, but managed to become one of the strongest shinobi and greatest healers known in the villages. Especially if you might have been similar to her when you used to be younger, more on the shy and not strong, but not weak side either, she would be somewhat your idol. If that is the case, Sakura would be even more fired up and motivated about teaching you since she sees a lot of her younger self in you.

🌸She has a lot of similarities to Tsunade, it was drilled into her during her long period of training. But the difference is that she is less intense and more mild than her sensei is. She would go hard on you, mainly because she’s determined to be a good teacher, especially if you asked her to help you, but she wouldn’t be as strict as Tsunade is. Different from Tsunade she won’t push you over your limits if you don’t feel like you can handle it anymore and need a small break. She isn’t as pushy as Tsunade is and will only try to encourage you to step over your limits and would be very proud of you try. Fighting will be teached as well and here again, she will be eager, but won’t go as hard on you as Tsunade. Most likely because she somewhat sympathizes with you, remembering her hard training with Tsunade.

🌸I definitely see Tsunade getting one way or another involved. It’s of course open to question whether Sakura called her over or Tsunade came looking for herself. I think there’s a chance that Sakura might have called Tsunade over herself since despite being confident in her abilities, she respects her sensei and feels like there might be certain things where Tsunade might bring the point over better than she can. But I can see it just as much that Tsunade might have decided to look after you and Sakura herself since Sakura used to be her student and she’s curious about how Sakura will train you, since Tsunade knows how much she loves you.

🌸But I feel like she would focus majorly on teaching you medic jutsus and everything involving it whilst Tsunade lays her focus equally on fighting and healing. For Sakura on the other hand it’s more important to teach you what you asked her for. That’s teaching you everything she knows as a medic. She would only after being sure that you are good enough with being a medic, start suggesting that you might start training Taijutsu with you. But before all of that she would approach this similar to how Tsunade did it, starting with the training with the fish until you’ve involved into watching in real life a surgery, most likely with her as the one leading the whole thing. Would afterwards explain to you every question that might have popped up during the operation. Sakura would let you most likely become at one point her personal assistant, still doing the most difficult parts for herself, but letting you do some smaller things like stitching wounds. Totally proud as well as so joyful for you when you finally did your first real surgery without anything going wrong and doing everything professionally. Would take you out on a small date as a celebration and would love it if you two would work more often together. Like this many conversations you two will have, will start being a lot more about patients you two recently had and will have in the future and mentioning complicated names from medicines and names of body parts and muscles that a normal citizen will not be able to understand. Not like any of you two care.

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #3 - Drawing tips!

Hi everyone!

As you may know, every week or so I’m writing blog posts with art advice hints and tips for artists of any skill level in the hopes of helping some people out a bit! The tag is here so feel free to check out some of my other posts!

This week’s post is going to be some drawing tips I’ve picked up over the years that could hopefully be useful for beginner artists! 

(this is about 1800 words altogether btw)

Drawings tips!

I’m going to split this post up into little sections which will hopefully make it easier for you to scroll to find certain advice you’re particularly interested in!

Part 1 - How to get started?

I’m a firm believer that anyone can be an artist, regardless of what materials or equipment they have. So when it comes to my advice on what kind of materials I recommend for beginner artists, I’d mainly say ‘whatever you have’. 

But if that’s a bit vague, I’d essentially recommend you have a set of pencils which you can usually get relatively inexpensive online or in craft/art shops which range from 6B all the way to 6H (’B’ being for softer, darker pencils, often good for shading, and ‘H’ for the harder pencil leads which are best for much lighter shading or if you want a really faint sketch. Something important to note about ‘H’ pencils is not to press too hard with them since they’re a lot more likely to leave indents in the paper than ‘B’ pencils! For general sketching I personally use 2B or 3B pencils since they have the perfect balance of soft & hardness in my opinion!) 

Of course, you can just draw with whatever pens or pencils you already have, so definitely don’t feel you have to go out of your way to buy something new or expensive just because your favourite artists use a particular brand of pencil or pen... Of course, often higher quality pens or pencils (especially colouring pencils) will have better pigment payoff than the cheaper alternatives, but as someone who’s been using the same WHSmith pencils they got when they were a child, I definitely think that as long as you have something to draw with, you’re all set to produce masterpieces of your own!

A lot of my art education got us using charcoal for a lot of our drawing practise. It’s not a medium I’m particularly fond of personally, but it is a great way to practise being a lot quicker and expressive with drawing, so definitely if you’re up for the challenge you can try some charcoal stuff! Only piece of advice is that I wouldn’t really recommend those ‘charcoal pencils’ you can buy in some shops, since they mostly just break apart every time you try and sharpen them... Regular charcoal is messy, though, and smudges very easily, so if you are interested in using it I’d say to do a little bit of research before hand! 

(Or feel free to send me an ask if you want any further advice on using it!)

If you’re wanting to get into digital art, I’m planning on making a post discussing my tips for beginners to digital so... keep an eye out for that in the near future lol!

~

Part 2 - Getting over ‘Drawing Anxiety’

Drawing can be a daunting thing, particularly when artists who are already pretty good at it can seemingly produce a perfectly proportioned face out of thin air. But these artists weren’t magically born with this skill, of course, so with practise and some perseverance, I can assure you that you’ll be at that stage one day!

So my first piece of advice here is to be patient with yourself. Don’t expect yourself to be perfect straight away. 

Second piece of advice is to sketch constantly!! I notice a lot of people who haven’t been drawing long are really careful about how they draw, almost like they’re afraid to be rough with the pencil. So I’d really recommend just starting to sketch a lot: be rough, be messy, draw things you can see and things from your imagination! 

Observational drawing is another thing I think is crucial in improving your drawing skills (and I’ll go into more detail with this in a bit), but honestly just sketching things you like is such a great way to help you grow as an artist! And yes this includes drawing anime fanart or drawings of your original characters! 

Below is some comparisons of my attempts at drawing Freema Agyeman from 2013 to 2019... Is the latest version of this perfect? Of course not. But I just want to show what constant practise can achieve!

~

Part 3 - Observational drawing

I honestly think that observational drawing was one of the most important things I learnt in my years of art education. 

Observational drawing can take on many meanings. Perhaps it’s drawing a still life of a fruit bowl, or a life drawing class with a naked dude in front of you, or even drawing from a photo. The point of observational drawing is to improve how you translate the world around you onto a 2D surface, essentially. 

And you don’t need anything fancy to do observational drawing either! Just placing an array of things in front of you and trying to sketch them (try and focus on a mix of textures and surfaces for the objects. So, for example, including a cup along side a woolly hat will help you get a handle on how to create texture with your drawing, and drawing anything with a reflective surface like cutlery is both challenging and interesting to do! Basically just use what you have around you!)

If you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on how fond you are of seeing naked people lol) enough to have the chance to do life drawing, I would honestly recommend it! Often the final results aren’t great, but it’s a really good way of practising your observational skills! And even if you don’t have the opportunity, just trying to sketch a friend or family member from across a room, for example, is something that can really help you improve! 

Top tip: a teacher once told me that when you’re drawing something like a face, for example, a way to improve how you draw is to see the face not as a ‘face’, but instead as a collections of shapes. Because our brains have a preconceived idea of what a face looks like that we end up drawing what we think we can see rather than what we can actually see! 

There’s a lot of art snobs who believe that drawing from reference images is ‘cheating’ in comparison to life drawing, Of course, this is bs, and I’d say I’ve learnt just as much from using reference photos for the basis of my art as I have from drawing from ‘real life’. For more information about my thoughts on references and how to use them, see This post!

~

Part 4 - Drawing from references: Tracing, Grids and Freehand (which is best?)

Tracing in the world of art is a ... Contentious subject to say the least. And I’m not really interested in getting into the ‘moral’ implications of whether it is ‘cheating’ or not.

Instead I want to focus on the pros of using something like tracing when you’re starting out. I think particularly if you’re trying to improve how you shade things, colour things or how to get better at blending, then I do think that tracing can be a useful tool! Even I used tracing in the very start of my delve into digital art, but soon found that tracing wasn’t really something that was helping me in the long run so moved onto freehand stuff. 

Overall, I think tracing is good as a starting point when you’re still learning about art, and also if you’re not too comfortable with your freehand drawing skills yet. I’d also recommend you mention if you have traced a piece if you share art to social media. Of course, no one is obligated to do this though! 

This is an example of an artwork that I traced (it’s from 2013, hence why it looks... like That lol)

But if you’re someone who perhaps has used tracing in the past and found it doesn’t really work for you, or if you don’t want to start with tracing at all, then a good ‘next step’ I’ve seen other artists get into is using grids. 

Now I have to admit, I’m not the best person to talk about grids since I’ve actually never used them lol... But I know a lot of artists who do, particularly people who do a lot of traditional work, since it makes it a lot easier to translate the reference image to your piece of paper or canvas. 

And in a way I would recommend grids more for people starting out in drawing than tracing, and this is mainly due to the fact grids force you to use a lot more observational drawing skills than tracing! If you’re interested in getting into using grids I’d recommend doing a bit of research yourself! 

The final technique of drawing from references I want to talk about is freehand! Now this is the one I’ve been doing for the majority of my art ‘career’ and honestly is probably the most ‘difficult’ to do of the three techniques. 

But I find freehand drawing particularly rewarding with the ways it can make you reimagine an artwork in ways you never intended! Like what I mentioned in my Reference advice post, I have found that making ‘mistakes’ in freehand drawing can actually lead to more interesting and unique works of art than tracing or grid work could ever do! 

I also think that freehand allows you to create your own characters or concepts in a much more free way. For example, my Spirit of Somerset piece was something I created from a variety of references (I seem to remember I used Isak from SKAM’s mouth as a basis for the girls’ mouth?) and the dragon was based on a real mishmash of references, which is something that I I feel I couldn’t have done if I’d have been using grids or tracing!

With this I’m not trying to say that freehand is the ‘best’ way of drawing, it is just the one that I personally have found to fit me the best, which is the entire point of this post! All of my advice is just pointers I think could be useful for new artists, it is up to you to find which ‘path’ in art suits you best!

And of course, I’ve phrased these techniques as separate purely for the sake of explaining them easier, but the fact of the matter is that you can use a combination of these in your art if you wish! 

If you struggle with drawing the outlines of hands, perhaps use tracing as a way to get a handle of the shape and then maybe use freehand to fill in the colour of them! Use a grid to draw a tree but freehand the leaves and bench below it! 

Remember that your art is your art, and no one can tell you how to draw things! 

~

I think I’ll leave this here for now! But I may do a part two at some point in the future! & my ask box is always open for anyone who wants any specific advice!

I really hope you found this at least moderately helpful, and a massive thank you to everyone for the constant support of these posts and my art!

[justsomerandomntmranking]

Angela Lehmann

Place: Winner

Average: 3.5

Even though the obvious winner was snubbed of her win, Angela was not a terrible winner whatsoever. It was clear that the judges were in love with her as soon as she walked in. Just check out the show where she got 3 FCOs back to back, even in strong (and weak) weeks, they always found a way to praise some of her worst (or best) shots. I did say it at the beginning but during the first half of the competition, she was quite underrated by the judges. Her underwater is quite pretty and although her runway was an absolute mess in the beginning of the cycle (check out her video shoot on the 2nd episode), she was able to pull off a decent phone ad. I do kinda like her dance shot but it is easy to admit that it is a pretty weak shot in comparison to the rest of the week and admittedly, one of her worst shots in retrospect. However, after her weak start, she was able to climb slowly up and up in improvement. While I did say that her cat beauty was one of my favorites from her, there are some flaws to it that ruin it for me (mainly her one eye not being fully closed). Still, it’s a great effort considering how much she struggled on set. After that, this is where my biggest issue for her would come along, the judges would start overhyping her to the extreme. Her FCO on the androgynous week still baffles me to this day, it makes no sense how she got the highest score from panel considering Janny’s outstanding performance that week. I could see how her Alter Ego got the FCO considering how the 2 strongest performance were given a B2 placement for no reason and I do love the shot itself, however, there were just better shots that week, you see the pattern yet? The swimwear week was fucking terrible but she got the FCO due to her professional behavior on set, even though Ina and Adela had far better shots. However, I will say that after her awful commercial, she started to really grow for me and I can finally see what the judges saw. Her glow in the dark is stellar as we saw a new side to her that wasn’t either confusion or blank. Her 2 finale shots may have not been my FCOs but they’re still great, especially her avant garde, which I now consider her personal best. She never got a FCO out of me though because as before mentioned, there was always someone else better that the judges overlooked or ignored. Adela, Ina, Aivie, Janny, even Blaise, all of them were much better contenders for a FCO over Angela who often I found forgettable or boring in the vast majority of her photos until the last 2 weeks when she stepped her ass up. Obviously, her improvement is admirable and she had a great personality but there were just stronger girls this cycle. It felt odd that Angela ended up with the win but at the same time, I understood it. The judges fell in love with her look and she had the perfect goose to swan story to them. I, however, never hated or loved her, I just forgot about her a lot whenever it came down to ranking. She’s not a bad winner per say at all, her vast improvement and her dedication to improving is one of the best arc of the cycles and I do think some circles of the internet have underrated her. I think if she wasn’t pushed to the finale, then it would’ve gone down easier for people but as for now, she was a ok winner, but a sour taste to end the cycle with.

(I want to add that Angela had no post work for me to choose from, only Adela and Ina had anything for me to pick from)

[salarta]

Marvel’s put one member of the newest X-Men team up for a vote that ends on February 6. Polaris is one of those options.

The short version of this post: I encourage people to vote for her.

The long version of this post goes into why. And related considerations.

Before I begin, there are two pieces of information garnered from tweets by Leah Williams to bear in mind for this topic.

There we go.

Now then. As any of you who follow me know, I think Lorna's had an overall terrible time of it these past few years. If this was 2014/2015, right after Lorna led All-New X-Factor, had a good showing in Secret Wars House of M, and a couple years after her origin story got told, I would probably say she shouldn't be on the poll at all. I would say other characters need it more. Even outside of this, I've always said I see Lorna as an A-lister that Marvel constantly treats like a D-lister. As such, I think Marvel should be using her so well and so much that she shouldn't even be on a poll like this.

But we have to deal with what is, not what should be. Fact of the matter is, Marvel's spent these past few years undermining her. Reducing her to a supporting character for the stories of male characters, mainly Havok with a little of Magneto and a few more besides. Leaving her off the X-women variant cover in 2019 when they had plenty of room to include her, and had others like Magik, Dani Moonstar and Mystique. Completely excluding her from Empyre: X-Men, where she had a HUGE stake in it due to Wanda's and Genosha's involvement. I could list a lot else, but those are a few examples.

Because of this, I say Lorna being on the poll is just fine, and she should be voted on.

But then we get to the question: why vote for her? What would happen if she did come out on top?

Why Vote for Lorna

Williams' tweets there give us some insight. Lorna would be on both books, and her role would be more as an advisor than a regular team member in the field. So let's talk about why this would be a good thing for all parties involved.

One, I think Lorna in the role of advisor is far, FAR more respectful to her history and experience than the current status quo. So much so that I'd support it even if she didn't end up on X-Men. Her current placement as simply a team member puts her "under" Northstar, and with Lorna doing nothing else outside the book and it being titled X-Factor, means Lorna has effectively been "demoted" from her prior position on X-Factor as a team leader. Advisor is more appropriate for Lorna in a way that would not undermine Northstar.

Two, I interpret this "Lorna would be an advisor, not doing field work" angle as meaning she would have less panel time. Otherwise, why would joining X-Men mean her role has to change? Therefore, if she DOES have less panel time on X-Factor, it could open a slot for another character - including one of the other characters in this poll - to join X-Factor as a team member in her place.

Three, Lorna being on both X-Men and X-Factor would actually be more beneficial to X-Factor than if Lorna was ONLY on X-Factor. Think about the casual reader. They decide to jump in. They see Lorna on X-Men. They like what they see, decide they want to see more of her, learn she shows up on X-Factor and starts buying that book too. Whereas if Lorna is ONLY on X-Factor, there's no bridge from X-Men to X-Factor. No reason to check it out. One less sale and reader for X-Factor.

Four, note the talk of collaboration. Now, I'm not going to get into all the things I can say on my views of X-Factor here. But what I will say is that it opens the door to both writers improving on their treatment of Lorna. The two points of comparison - X-Men and X-Factor - means they can learn from each other on what works and what doesn't, and figure it out much faster than just one writer.

There may be other potential good outcomes to this. I'll add if I think of any. I encourage others to add theirs.

Next, I want to go into the poll, with a dose of reality/warning on expectations.

Lorna’s Chances

This poll is heavily slanted against Lorna. Not from any lack of interest or potential, but because of how Marvel’s used and treated Lorna these past few years. Here’s the dive.

First off, a lot of people have already said they won’t vote for Lorna because she’s “already on X-Factor.” It doesn’t matter where she is, how she’s being used. Simply being on a book, ANY book, is enough for them not to vote for her compared to other characters who aren’t on a book. 

Second, many X-Factor fans have a vested interest in Lorna not joining X-Men. Keeping her exclusive to X-Factor lets them feel like X-Factor is a special place where she can be found (read: exploited) for their book, with the writer able to do whatever she wants with Lorna. This means not only are those X-Factor fans not going to vote for Lorna (whereas they might have if she was never on X-Factor in the first place), they’re also likely to try and dissuade other people from voting for Lorna.

Third, Marvel’s really, REALLY tried to bury her and misrepresent her these past few years. The same problems I cited earlier in the post - use as supporting character for men, exclusion from things she should be part of, ignoring key character history like the Genoshan genocide - can leave casual readers completely unaware of who Lorna actually is and how Marvel SHOULD be treating her. As a result, many will follow the attitude Marvel’s current leadership has that she’s “not interesting enough” and end up voting for someone else.

Finally, this poll ends on February 6. What are the odds of a majority of Lorna fans seeing this poll and voting on it by then, when Marvel’s given fans plenty of reason not to keep in tune with their activity?

All of this assumes the poll is legit rather than a PR scheme where it’s already been decided, and that the poll software has tools like IP detection to ensure a single fan or group of fans can’t go on and spam votes for their faves.

Still, with all of that in mind?

Vote for Polaris

Think of this poll like U.S. elections. Even if it is rigged or stacked against her, there’s more reason to vote for her than not.

Worst case scenario, you only “wasted” a few seconds shooting off a useless vote. Best case scenario, she has a better chance than we all thought and she actually wins.

Regardless of outcome, you’re showing your interest and intent by voting for her.

So yeah. Post done. Head over there and vote!

[mira--mira]

Madara and Hashirama for the ask meme 👀

Hashirama

What I love about them:

I really love Hashirama's stubborn optimism. I say "stubborn" here bc I think after a certain point of pain in misery in someone's everyday life, in some way it is a choice to remain optimistic despite that suffering. I don't characterize Hashirama as constantly happy and he can recognize the more realistic/pessimistic possibilities, he just refuses to accept them. I have it in my notes for OoT but haven't worked it in verbatim but Madara would call him "ruthlessly optimistic " and while that's tinged with Madara's own bias, I think it fits quite well.

What I hate about them:

Hashirama is stubbornly optimistic LOL. It's a double-edged sword and I think by the time he reached adulthood in a canon setting, Hashirama was so desperate for there to be peace he maintained his "everything will work out" attitude when he otherwise shouldn't have. There were the concerns with Madara and the Uchiha, his own brothers views that he certainly should have recognized could become a problem, and, after depending on when Tobirama took on students/how old they were, the possibility of biases being passed down and a Danzo like figure coming to power. However this was not Hashirama's responsibility alone to fix. I don't think, despite his love, Hashirama alone could have kept Madara in a village that hated him and a clan that distrusted him. Tobirama was an adult and let his own bias pass under a veil of "logic" and passed that, either intentionally or unintentionally down to his students. None of this is Hashirama's fault, but I think part of the canon story being a tragedy was he was blinded by a bright, hopeful future that he failed to see the early signs right in front of him.

Favorite Moment/Quote:

"To me, Madara was like a gift from the divine."

Even thinking about it makes me melt. It's so sweet and really emphasizes how much Madara means to him. 🥺

What I would like to see more focus on:

In fics? Hashirama's mental health and how his childhood affected him. Most of the long fics I've read focus on Madara. Which I understand, Madara has an arc into becoming a villain while Hashirama is just kinda "there" and it's easy for him to fulfill a support role to helping Madara in canon Au fics. A sort of unshakeable, always optimistic stone for Madara to depend on and stop his downward spiral into villainy. But, what makes hashimada so great for me is that Madara and Hashirama are equals. There will be times one falters and needs to depend on the other, and they're capable of giving each other that support. It'd also be great to see Hashirama struggle yet continue to choose optimism and compassion time after time because that feels more weighty and important than an eternally optimistic characterization that never wavers.

Headcanon wise...this isn't something I've found but desperately want to see (and will come up in all of my own aus) is the connection between the god tree and the god of shinobi who's famed ninjutsu is wood release and who's cells can be used for everything under the sun and are specifically needed to control the gedo statue / ten-tails. 👀 Look when I got back into Naruto and only vaguely knew about the war arc plot I thought Kishimoto was Doing Something with that. He was not. I am.

What I would like to see less focus on:

This is pretty much mentioned above but Hashirama as mainly a support for Madara rather than getting his own (non romantic) arcs in long canon Au fics. Headcanon wise, this is such a small nitpick, but Hashirama constantly being the one described as warm whereas Madara is cold. The big tree can *retain* heat, but he pales in comparison to Madara's ability to *generate* heat.

Favorite pairing with:

Hashimada (Hashirama x Madara)

No one should be surprised. I can wax prose about this for days but it's about ultimately finding someone else in a terrible world that *understands* you that you can grow with and support. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and battle couples so guess what's right up my alley?

Favorite friendship:

Canon/BoaF- Hashirama & Mito

I know Madara & Mito is more popular, and I do love their dynamic but christ Hashirama needs friends outside Madara and Tobirama and I think they'd be good friends. Canon!Mito would provide a good level-headed perspective and wouldn't have the messy, complicated history like the three founders have together and it'd be good for Hashirama to get a break from that. BoaF!Mito and Hashirama are cousins their relationship eventually progresses to a sibling-like bond. They’re quite protective of each other and gossip endlessly together. Mito’s not as good as gardening, but they do it together and incorporate Uzumaki sealing techniques for certain houseplant decorations. Mito also might know about Madara 👀 

OoT-Hashirama & Sakura or Hashirama & Sai

His and Sakura's relationship is p similar to how I would characterize his and Mito's but with the added hilarity of Sakura being his "student" yet having 0 deference for him once they actually get to the "teaching" part (surprise: Hashirama's most uttered lines are "you do the thing, you know the thing, you know you just...do it. The thing. Madara "translates" a lot of their sessions.) Hashirama and Sai antagonize each other constantly and he *will* tease Sai into oblivion as any older brother would. Tobirama never reacted to Hashirama's mischief in ~fun~ ways and he felt bad about messing with Itama, who was even more emotional than he was and Kawarama, who hero-worshipped him. Sai is the perfect "if anyone messes with you I will personally make them regret being born yet *I* will tease you mercilessly to my hearts content" kind of little brother.

NOTP:

Hashitobi (Hashirama x Tobirama)

I don't do incest. At all. Even "non-incest" aus where they aren't technically related squick me out.

Favorite headcanon:

Hashirama can Speak to the trees.

Either humorously or seriously, I love this kinda, sorta, maybe not quite human power.

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Madara

What I love about them:

Madara is kind and does his best to do what he thinks is right. The “kind” point is a lot of Hashirama talking/flashbacks and the “good” intention behind the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Making everyone a “winner” in the dreamworld, while absolutely insane and full of holes, is odd for a villain’s motivation. His role in the war arc is mostly focused on watching him wreck absolutely everyone he comes into contact with but I love Hashirama’s flashbacks and the glimpses of kid!Madara we get. Madara believed in his philosophy from a lifetime of pain that ended in him losing everything and being manipulated but he was still seeking a way to “help” the most people he could. He’s such a rich character that makes it easy to want to imagine other what-if scenarios where things turned out just a bit differently.

What I hate about them:

Madara takes all responsibility onto himself. This is more speculation because we don’t get Madara’s POV of his childhood or any significant scenes with the clan. However, I think this is one of the primary roots of most of Madara’s problems. If he blamed himself for mistakes that weren’t technically his, he could get into a cycle where he only blames himself and doesn’t seek help/support when he should have and purposefully reduces his support circle because he becomes paranoid that he won’t be able to protect them. A smaller issue that is both about Madara and not is he didn’t fall victim to the Talk no Jutsu, but was Madara aware of what was happening when he was possessed(?) by Kaguya? I forgot but if he wasn’t...I don’t think he’d agree Hashirama’s way was the right way at the end, merely his way was wrong. Because, in Madara’s point of view, the village may have been “better” (used very loosely) than becoming food/power for an alien goddess but it wasn’t good. It wasn’t the solution. Hashirama saying they were both wrong in some way saved the scene but Madara still jumped back to Hashirama’s dream being the right one too quickly imo. 

Favorite Moment/Quote:

“What are you going to do about the second [meteor] Onoki?” 

I’m sorry, that was just hilarious. We see this man slaughter an entire division and drop a meteor from the sky...two kages desperately try to stop it and it looks like they managed to succeed and he just...cool. What about the second? Really cemented Madara is Here and he is Dramatic. A close second fav is him flying across the battlefield to confront Hashirama only for the “I’ll deal with you later” line. 

What I would like to see more focus on:

I really love it when fics fill in the blanks of Madara’s childhood/his time with the Uchiha so that’s always a plus for me. The other thing is Hashirama calls Madara a “fundamentally kind man” and according to Tobirama the Uchiha feel love “too deeply” so I like fics that do focus on these aspects of Madara’s personality while staying true to his prickly demeanor. For headcanons I love, love, love exploring kekkei genkai/ninjutsu/genjutsu and how they individually affect people/clans. Digging deeper so that “fire affinity” means constantly running hot/pushing into possibly having fire resistance/unable to distinguish “too hot” / or even affinity acting like a secondary blood type so even if two people had AB blood if one had a water affinity and the other fire their blood would be incompatible. Also the mundane ways powers can be used (I have some Ideas for non-combat genjustu applications that the Uchiha use and those will come up in OoT 👀)

What I would like to see less focus on:

This again kinda ties into the Hashirama segments, but Madara completely depending on Hashirama and Hashirama alone for happiness. Especially in long AUs where he’s still in Konoha but has a poor relationship with the Uchiha. That’s fine starting out! But if the fic ends or doesn’t seriously work on improving that relationship it just sits a bit weird with me bc I don’t think Madara could be truly happy in that situation. (NSFW start) The other thing I see commonly is Madara is extremely passive/submissive in bed with Hashirama which is...weird to me? There’s also a reoccurring thing where he doesn’t have a lot of experience but Hashirama does and this leads to embarrassment and the aforementioned passive/submissiveness. I understand lack of experience can be embarrassing and I do believe Madara could be embarrassed, but instead of withdrawing into himself I think he’d push through it with something close to bravado and his usual single-minded intensity, for better or worse. I do think Madara usually bottoms in his and Hashirama’s relationship but both of them are as enthusiastic about sex as they are fighting and neither is especially submissive or dominant. (NSFW end)

Favorite pairing with:

Hashimada (Hashirama x Madara)

See absolutely everything else 😂 

Favorite friendship:

Canon/BoaF- Madara & Naori or Madara & Hikkaku 

I really like focusing on the Uchiha clan and exploring the dynamics within it. We get nothing about Madara’s early life outside of Hashirama so this is almost completely speculation. For the angst of canon, I like Madara being close to his clan only to lose them after his friendship with Hashirama is revealed bc he awakened his sharingan over Hashirama and that can’t be easily hidden. For BoaF, a large part of it is exploring the clans’ cultures before they made the village so this necessitates actually fleshing out said clans. Naori and Izuna are v similar in personality and both live to prank Madara and annoy him, but they hardly ever team up bc they start squabbling amongst themselves. Hikakku is stoic and calm in contrast to Naori’s mania and Madara’s intensity but he keeps track of every little favor and Madara dreads the day he’ll act on them because he knows it’ll result in something embarrassing for him. But like all BoaF!Uchiha, they’re fiercely protective of one another and you really don’t want to insult the wrong person. 

OoT - Madara & Naruto or Madara & Sai

I really Madara and Naruto’s dynamic, it’s very entertaining and fun for me to write and they’re both positive influences on each other. Madara gets more people to smother with his brand of affection and Naruto gets early recognition and training. Their weird non-training shenanigans (coupon collecting, gaming, etc.) also is p amusing. Madara and Sai have a similar relationship but I really like writing theirs from Sai’s POV bc he insists that he doesn’t feel close/like when Madara treats him like a little brother when he really does. 

NOTP:

Madatobi (Madara x Tobirama)

Logically, I know why this pairing is popular. Fanfic is saturated with the enemies to lovers trope yet emotionally I Do Not Understand it. Personally, I don’t enjoy toxic relationships, to read or write. And, to me, that’s what a close canon Madara and Tobirama pairing would be. Tobirama tried to convince Hashirama to kill him, he killed Izuna, even if it was in war, and I don’t think Madara could or would get over that. If Tobirama has similar attitudes about the Uchiha it makes it worse. AUs exist to rewrite this, of course, but I still don’t enjoy their romantic chemistry. At best, I like Tobirama and Madara as reluctant frenemies who insult each other and try to one-up each other. 

Favorite headcanon:

Madara is fire proof. 

I have a whole rant about this in OoT’s author notes 😂 Sasuke’s Amaterasu should have been a serious threat when it hit him. Instead the man just lets his clothes fall off then kicks their asses. He’s fire proof.

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In response to the ask game: