#so. fellow čumblr kcd(2) enjoyers how are we doing

[nikkashidashipper]

so to elaborate on this-

let me preface this with:

Czech is quite a complicated and also a very colorful (Slavic) language

I do have to add that the Czech dub for KCD2 is *chef's kiss* it's SO well done. it's so colorful and so witty and funny. I encourage any Slavs to at least check out the cz dub + eng sub option

I haven't seen the playthrough in English properly so feel free to correct me if I missed anything

I'm experiencing the game in Czech dub + sub

this is a subjective interpretation of the diminutives used in the Czech dub and the levels of intimacy/affection they carry, a different Czech person may have different experiences with these names

(spoilers ahead obviously, but not anything beyond the Trosky map/part of the game)

for this I'm gonna focus on our lads, Hans and Henry and the Czech versions of the names and their use in the game/dialogue, and two scenes that stood out to me so far - 1st is the cutscene after the lads get jailed at Trosky and they learn that Hans is to be hanged, 2nd is the sequence of gameplay and cutscene during the abovementioned scramble after they get ambushed on their way from Trosky to Nabákov

firstly, the lads and their names

so in the English dub our lads are called Sir Hans Capon and Henry of Skalitz, and as far as i know, Henry only calls Hans either "Sir Capon", "Sir Hans", or "Hans"

in the Czech dub, our lads are called Pan Jan Ptáček [pan jan ptɑː(tʃ)ek] and Jindřich ze Skalice [jɪnd(rz)ɪ(kh) ze skalɪ(ts)e] - the meaning of the words mirror the English equivalents (aka Pan = Sir, ze = of etc.)

going forward I'm gonna use the term "hypocorism" as a blanket term for terms like "informal name", "diminutive", "nickname", "pet name", and the term "formal name" when referring to either an "official" name of the character or (eg. Hans) or a formal given name in the linguistic sense

Jindřich (Henry)

as far as the diminutives of the name Jindřich (Henry) go, there's mainly "Jindra" [jɪndra], which is a fairly basic hypocorism of a formal name - Jan (Hans) uses it quite often for him (as can other characters and do so quite often), which isn't that surprising given Jindra's social status and Jan's and his dynamic, aka Jan doesn't have to stick to respectful and formal names and terms when addressing Jindřich, he could more or less call him whatever

in the English dub, I'm not sure Hans ever calls Henry a nickname(?)

Jan (Hans)

before we get into the hypocorisms, a fun(?) quick(?) aside:

the name Jan in Czech is a formal name, as can Hans be in English of course, but the direct Czech equivalent of the name Hans is "Honza" which, while it technically can(?) be a formal name (there are only 7 people with Honza as their given name in the Czech Rep out of almost 11 million), it is pretty much exclusively a hypocorism of the name Jan - if you're wondering, the direct English equivalent of the name Jan is John (or German Johannes)

with that said, I'm only going to be looking at the way the name Jan and its hypocorisms are used in the Czech language without relating them back to Hans (as Hans is simply the characters formal name in the English dub)

and again, I'm not sure Henry ever calls Hans a nickname(?) in the English dub, but most importantly for this, he doesn't do so in the instances when Jindřich does so in the Czech dub

so as far as I've noticed, there has only been one instance (so far) where the Czech dub uses hypocorisms of the formal name Jan, and we get two of them basically in one scene/sequence - the 2nd scene I listed at the beginning - "Jenda" [jenda] and later "Honza" [honza] which, and this is where it gets subjective in my opinion, is a wild choice from the writers??

Jindřich using hypocorisms for Jan is more significant for obvious reasons, which I already mentioned - the class differences and their dynamic, Jan is a Lord and Jindřich his company, and the latter should keep up the formal and respectful manner when addressing his Lord etc etc, the game tells you this repeatedly in various ways

so, Jenda is pretty much a direct hypocorism of the name Jan, but heavily informal, it has a "silly factor" if you will, it's a Very lighthearted diminutive, kinda goofy, one would use it, in my opinion, for a young-er friend (good friend) or in a teasing manner, or as an affection charged nickname, familial, familiar or romantic

Honza is a bit complicated to explain, it's also a hypocorism of Jan, but it's far more often used than Jenda, and while still informal it doesn't have the goofy factor and silliness to it and may as well be used as a regular (nick)name instead of the given name Jan

why this matters - Czech hansry truthers have been blessed

now, both of these are far from inherently overtly affectionate (or romantically charged at that) - However, as is established, Jindřich should have no business calling Jan, his lord, any sort of nickname (or even just calling him only by his first name, as he does in the 1st scene mentioned at the beginning, more on that below), and the fact that he does so in moments of desperation where Jan is in great/grave danger is. insane of the writers tbh

and this is the first time Jindřich uses these for Jan as well, he just shouts them out, too, the voice actor (Richard Wágner) did an absolutely fantastic job, those hypocorisms are loaded with emotion

and again, as far as I've been able to find, there hasn't been any use of hypocrisms or nicknames in the English dub between these two

lastly, to circle back to the scenes - the 1st scene in jail at Trosky, Jindřich just shouts "Jane!" after him and it caught me SO off guard because this was the first time in the sequel (and possibly the first or second time over both the games) Jindřich called Jan only by his first name, no title, no last name, just Jan, and it was while Jindřich was being dragged away from him, both having just learned Jan is to hang in 12 hours. the 2nd scene the lads have been ambushed by guys with pistols(!)(I hereby invite you to look up what the origin of the word "pistol" is lol), Jan keeps disappearing from Jindřich's sight and then he gets whacked in the head and stays unmoving on his back and Jindřich has to shake him back into consciousness while they get surrounded. I have rewatched both scenes at least 15 times each, I am losing my mind

I genuinely am unable to fully express just how intimate the "Honzo!" is when Jindra is cradling Jan's head, shaking him awake desperately. like,, the "Jane!" was already a shock, and then this. I am so serious when I say I screamed

in my humble opinion these are very deliberate choices on the writers' and directors' part and I'm still in awe from just how well and sensibly and delicately they developed their relationship and even crafted a romance option that feels completely normal, even natural for these two characters. I still cannot understand or comprehend how this even happened at Warhorse (given Vávra and his very vocal opinions, no less) and that we have this tastefully crafted and handled gay romance in a Czech medieval videogame. speechless (he says, after finishing his extensive speech asdjlhkhaskhgsjkadhl)

you guys. in the czech dub of the game, henry calls hans nicknames and more importantly, diminutives during the scramble after they get ambushed on their way to nabákov. im. soft