#the japanese & french & german names too are also so fun to compare

[daisychainsandbowties]

today i discovered there's a pokemon called Klinklang and that is such a funny word it brought me immense joy so thought id share

it’s even better than that!! Klinklang is the final evolution of two other pokemon

the first one is called Klink (can you tell where this is going already? 😉)

then this guy(s??) evolves into… guess what 🥰 Klang!!

so their final evolution is just those two names mushed together, which is both incredibly stupid and a stroke of pure genius that will never be repeated

(also the japanese name is Gigigiaru, which is just a nice word to pronounce 🥰🥰)

also i love the bulbapedia entry

it “may be a combination of klink and klang” be so for real right now

[tortilla-of-courage]

Skyward Sword - comparing NPC names in English and Spanish

For this I’ll be comparing mainly 2 (technically 3) translations of SkSw: English (ENG), Spanish (Latinamerica) (ESP-LA) and Spanish (Spain) (ESP-SP). If available, I’ll add the Japanese (JP) too. The spanish ones might be the same in some cases, which will be marked as (ESP). (I might also add an extra translation or two if i know them)

Link (リンク - Rinku), Zelda (ゼルダ - Zeruda) and Impa (インパ - Inpa) stay the same in all translations. Some of them have some minor changes tho (beware of slight spoilers for SkSw)

(Special thanks to @sunnylaurels for sharing the Japanese names for the Skyloft NPCs! And to @attllhak for sharing some French ones! - Really Long post under cut)

Main/Important Characters

Fi (ENG) - Fay (ESP) - ファイ (Fai) (JP)

These are basically the same, just different spelling. There’s a lot of speculation as to what Fi’s name is based on. For some reason I like to think it’s because of “Wi-Fi” but anything goes

Ghirahim (ENG) - Grahim (ESP) -  ギラヒム (Girahimu) (JP)

This one’s interesting because both ‘translations’ are technically right. English follows it more “to the letter” doing “Gira” as “Ghira”, while Spanish interprets it as “Gra” since Japanese doesn’t do the two-different-consonants together thing, but overall both are the same

Groose (ENG) - Vilán (ESP-LA) - Malton (ESP-SP) -  バド (Bado) (JP)

Groose, Groose, Groose. Probably the main character with the MOST changes. “Bado” seems to be referencing the Japanese pronunciation of “bird”, but could also be interpreted as “Birdo”. LA Spanish’s “Vilán” is sometimes seen as referencing the english “Villain”, but recently @/deerdroo pointed out to me it’s most definitely referencing the “Gavilán” bird, which resembles a little eagle (Wikipedia calls it a “sparrowhawk” in English). Not sure what Spain’s doing with “Malton” but I like it. And of course “Groose” follows the bird naming theme most of Skyloft has (referencing grouse and goose). Also his name in French is “Hergo”

Demise (ENG) - El Heraldo de la Muerte (ESP) -  終焉の者 (Shūen no Mono) (JP)

Okay this guy. “終焉の者” could be translated as “The One Who Brings The End”, according to @/sunnylaurels. So, in a way, I guess it makes sense for the English translation to just grab “Demise” for the name but also I feel it REALLY takes away from how it’s a Title rather than a name? He’s an ancient being, him existing as a “concept” and having no name adds a lot to his character imo. Anyways, “El Heraldo de la Muerte” would translate as “The herald of death” or “the messenger of death”, which is like really ominous i think - imagine having to fight some guy and everyone on earth calls him the messenger of death. I’d be so scared. Yes I’m very aware Demise means Death i just think it’s silly he just gets called that and that’s it. Also i keep reading it as Denise so really, who’s losing here? Not me. 

As a fun add-on to this, in German his name can be translated to “Death-bringer” (thanks @/aureateart), while in French it’s Avatar du Néant, which would translate to “Avatar of the Void” (thanks @/attllhak)

The Imprisoned (ENG) - El Cautivo (ESP-LA) - El Durmiente (ESP-SP)

“El Cautivo” basically means The Imprisoned, but “El Durmiente” means “The Sleeping One”, which... fits, but also i find it a bit funny, not sure why. Fight the sleepy avocado everyone

Deities + The Surface’s Main Places’ Names

The Goddesses stay the same in these translations too:

Din (ENG, ESP) - ディン (Din) (JP)

Nayru (ENG, ESP) - ネール (Nēru) (JP)

Farore (ENG, ESP) - フロル (Furoru) (JP)

Hylia (ENG, ESP) - ハイリア (Hairia) (JP)

The dragons, for the most part, too. The only one that really changes is Faron, which changes to “Farone” much like in Twilight Princess with the Light Spirit of the same name.

Eldin (ENG, ESP) - オルディン (Orudin) (JP)

Lanayru (ENG, ESP) - ラネール (Ranēru) (JP)

Faron (ENG) - Farone (ESP) -  フィローネ (Firōne) (JP)

Levias (ENG) - Narisha (ESP)

I couldn’t for the life of me find Levias’ name in Japanese, but considering EVERY translation EXCEPT English has him as Narisha? i’m gonna take a wild guess and say it’s ナリシャ (Narisha) or similar. His name Levias is based off the word Leviathan. And Fun fact! Did you know the spaniard Zelda Wiki lists him as being one of the dragons? as in, him being a whale-shaped dragon? yeah.

The Surface (ENG) - Las Tierras Inferiores (ESP)

Las Tierras Inferiores would translate as “The Lower Lands”

Faron Woods (ENG) - Bosque de Farone (ESP)

Eldin Volcano (ENG) - Volcán de Eldin (ESP)

Lanayru Dessert (ENG) - Desierto de Lanayru (ESP)

These ones mean the same for the most part, just with the change of Faron to Farone.

Skyloft / The Sky - Places and Animals

The Sky (ENG) - El Cielo (ESP-LA) - Celéstea (ESP-SP)

“El Cielo” literally means The Sky, while Celéstea would be a play on “Celestial” (From the Heavens/Skies). Fun side note - “El Cielo” also means “Heaven”, so when i was younger everytime i went back to the sky i’d be like “rip Link he’s dead :/”

Skyloft (ENG) - Neburia (ESP-LA) - Altárea (ESP-SP)

Neburia, from what I learned after a 4 am Wikipedia dive, could be based off the word “Nébula”, which can mean “Cloud”. It basically means “Cloud Town”. Altárea, I think??? would be based off the word “Alto” which means “High (Altitude)” so basically, “A Place High Up”? If anyone wants to comment on this i’d appreciate it

The Lumpy Pumpkin (ENG) - La Calabaza Flotante (ESP-LA) - Calabarza’s (ESP-SP)

“La Calabaza Flotante” literally means “The Floating Pumpkin”, while “Calabarza’s” is a really clever play on Calabaza and bar. I’m not sure what the name of the island itself is in english, but in Spanish it’s “Isla Calabaza” (Pumpkin Island) (ESP-LA) and “Calabia” (word play on “Pumpkin Place”) (ESP-SP)

Loftwing (ENG) - Neburí (ESP-LA) - Pelícaro (ESP-SP)

Neburí would also come from Nébula, so it’d translate to something like “Cloudy (thing)”? possibly. Pelícaro seems like a play on the word “Pelícano” which means Pelican.

Remlit (ENG) - Lémury (ESP) - Remuri (JP)

Lémury is a play on “Lémur”, probably because of Remlits’ ringed tails. Remuri might be the same play of words. 

Skyloft/The Sky - NPCs

(I might revisit some of these at one point since some of the references they could have flew over my head!) (haha get it? flew? the sky? ok)

Batreaux (ENG) - Mursego (ESP-LA) - Batolo (ESP-SP) - Morusego (JP)

My friend! my buddy! Batreaux is an obvious play with “Bat”, since he kind of resembles one. This is kept in both Spanish names - Batolo seems like a combination of “Bat” and “Bartolo” (a spanish name), and Mursego is based off the spanish for Bat “Murciélago” (as well as being the closest to the Japanese “Morusego”!!). Keeps the “flying animal” theme in all three languages.

Beedle (ENG) - Terry (ESP) - テリー (Terī) (JP)

The man, the myth, the legend. Beedle’s name is similar to “beetle”, the insects he loves in BoTW and SS. Not sure what the deal with “Terry” and similar is. He keeps the “flying animal name” theme with Beedle, sort of, but loses it in every other translation (which, btw, is also Terry or a variant in most languages)

Bertie (ENG) - Arín (ESP-LA) - Alfred (ESP-SP) - Arin (JP)

This poor man. Working all day and all night. Bertie’s supposed to reference a type of sparrot called “lovebird” (the bird part). For Arín, besides being basically the same as Japanese, could reference the word “Cantarín”, which means “singsong” and is used to describe birds that sing a lot. Alfred... no clue.

Cawlin (ENG) - Corvy (ESP) - Ras (JP)

In the same way “Cawlin” references “caw”, which is the sound crows make, “Corvy” references this same bird, called “Cuervo” in Spanish. In french he’s “Orbo”, which if i had to guess also references crows.

Croo (ENG) - Gurriaco (ESP)

“Croo” could reference both the “cooing” of birds and “crow”, like Cawlin above. Gurriaco, if I reach enough, could be referencing “Urraca”, a type of bird in Spanish.

Dodoh (ENG) - Dodo (ESP) - Dodo (JP)

Referencing the extinct bird of the same name in all languages, I guess. 

Dovos (ENG) - Dombo (ESP)

Dovos feels like it’s referencing “Dove”. Dombo gives be “Dumbo” vibes - probably could reference it because he flies? not sure

Eagus (ENG) - Aquilo (ESP) - Igurusu (JP)

Eagus, Aquilo, and Igurusu are referencing Eagles. It’s more obvious in Eagus. The spanish for Eagle is “Águila”, which is just two letters off from Aquilo. 

Fledge (ENG) - Gruyo (ESP) - Sebasun (JP)

Fledge is referencing Fledgling, a young bird. Gruyo comes from “Gruya”, which is Crane in spanish. In french his name’s “Célestin”.

Gaepora (ENG, ESP-LA) - Gaépora (ESP-SP) - ゲポラ (Gepora) (JP)

Pretty much the same. His name is also a combination of the Owl from Ocarina of Time’s name “Kaepora Gaebora” (ENG, ESP) - ケポラ・ゲボラ (Kepora Gebora), probably because he looks a lot like the Sage of Light Rauru and the owl he turns into. One of the few Skyloftians not named after a bird in English, though technically he is if we consider the above?

Gondo (ENG, ESP-LA) - Dorcon (ESP-SP) - Doruko (JP)

Not sure what Gondo might be referencing bird-wise exactly? though i think “Gondo” is similar to “Gonzo” (from Wind Waker), with who I think shares some design aspects. Dorcon in Spain’s Spanish seems to just take from the original Japanese. In French his name’s also “Dorco”!

Goselle (ENG) - Alani (ESP) - Otaka (JP)

I’ll be real, not sure what’s going on with her names in either language. Goselle gives me bird vibes but i’m not sure. Alani reminds me of the spanish “Alaja”, which means Jewel

Greba (ENG) - Ornella (ESP) - Miho (JP)

Ornella reminds me of the word “Hornilla” (mute H), which is basically the hole where the heat comes out of in wooden ovens... but! according to the dictionary it also means “(a) hole where pigeons make their nest” so i guess it’s bird related too!

Gully (ENG) - Gabio (ESP-LA) - Gabi (ESP-SP) - Garu (JP)

Gully most definitely references a seagull. Gabio and Gabi references the same animal, but in spanish obviously - “Gaviota”. 

Henya (ENG) - Galina (ESP-LA) - Zenona (ESP-SP) - Heena (JP)

Henya references Hens, as does Galina (Hen being “Gallina” in Spanish). Zenona... uh.. not sure where that came from? I’m halfway through this post realizing i’d gladly accept comments from any spanish speaking person who wants to give an input on these things im missing 

Horwell (ENG) - Asteus (ESP) - Hoonelu (JP)

i’ll be real im not sure what Asteus is referencing. Horwell seems to be pretty close to the japanese for the most part though

Jakamar (ENG) - Carpín (ESP) - Geran (JP)

Carpín is most definitely referencing Wood Peckers (“Pájaro Carpintero”/Carpenter Birds)

Karane (ENG) - Grusi (ESP-LA) - Gracielle (ESP-SP) - Kuranu (JP)

Karane seems to be almost the same as in Japanese, while Spanish went crazy and gave her a completely different name, tho at least they’re kinda similar between each other. Also in french her name’s “Grida” (another Gr name!!)

Keet (ENG) - Pío (ESP-LA) - Pitxi (ESP-SP) - Michiru (JP)

Pío is, quite literally, the sound birds make (or the way we’d write that sound in spanish), especially chicks. Pitxi is a mystery to me

Kina (ENG) - Calabel (ESP-LA) - Calabelle (ESP-SP) - Panan (JP)

Calabel/Calabelle is referencing the spanish for Pumpkin, “Calabaza”, giving it a more feminine name-esque ending (like in Anabel/Anabelle)

Kukiel (ENG) - Picalia (ESP-LA) - Cuqui (ESP-SP) - Kuuko (JP)

Cuqui could be referencing that exact same word (often spelled “Kuki”) that just means “cute”. Picalia seems like a play with “pícara” which basically means “gremlin” (google translates it as “sassy” but im not sure if that word fits)

Luv (ENG) - Mandi (ESP-LA) - Amanda (ESP-SP) - Manda (JP)

Mandi and Amanda seem to stay close to the Japanese name, both of them being common spanish names. Luv, like i mentioned in Bertie’s part, would reference “love bird” (the love part)

Mallara (ENG) - Pati (ESP-LA) - Patty (ESP-SP) - Rubia (JP)

I only now realized Mallara is referencing mallard ducks. wow. Pati/Patty are just a common name in Spanish. Lil fun fact related to her Japanese name! Rubia means “blonde” in Spanish

Mia (ENG, ESP-LA) - Miwi (ESP-SP) - Mi (JP)

mia my baby girl. i love her. im yeeting her off Skyloft. seems they all reference meowing in some way

Orielle (ENG) - Corina (ESP) - Kuina (JP)

LISTEN. the other day i was trying to think just WHAT Corina could be referencing. And the only thing that popped into my brain is that “Corina” is the name they gave the bird Tokyo Mew Mew girl in LatinAmerica. It’s literally the only bird related thing i can think of. Also it sounds a bit like “Kuina”. French name is “Kinaé”, similar to Japanese!

Owlan (ENG) - Buhel (ESP) - Aoulu (JP)

Owlan seems to keep the owl theme across all three! Aoulu seems to just be “owl” quite literally, and Buhel is a play on the spanish for Owl (”Búho”)

Parrow (ENG) - Golondro (ESP) - Parou (JP)

Golondro comes from “Golondrina”, a type of bird! I think it’s called “swallow” in english ... so it kinda fits Parrow anyways! Also Parrow seems to be his japanese name too

Peater (ENG) - Panolo (ESP-LA) - Paul (ESP-SP) - Jakusin (JP)

This guy. man. Seems to be “Jackson” in Japanese? But everyone grabbed a P and ran. Panolo seems like a play on “Manolo”, a nickname for people with the name “Manuel” - maybe mixed with the P for “Pájaro”(Bird)? Paul’s just a common name as far as i know.

Peatrice (ENG) - Panalí (ESP-LA) - Paula (ESP-SP) - Jakuriinu (JP)

Peatrice seems to always be named after her dad. “Jackeline” in Japanese i believe, and barely “feminized” names for the rest. Panalí sounds a bit more like “panal”, the spanish for “hive” (as in beehive)

Piper (ENG) - Joana (ESP)

There’s not much to comment here. Joana’s a common name in Spanish

Pumm (ENG) - Vito (ESP-LA) - Ruperto (ESP-SP) - Puukin (JP)

I have NO clue where Vito came from. It sounds like a badly spelled “Victor”. Where did the Pumpkin theme go???? huh?????. Ruperto’s kind of the same? Unless i’m missing some pumpkin related words in spanish, it’s just a common name.

Pipit (ENG) - Cocu (ESP-LA) - Coocker (ESP-SP) - Kikoa (JP)

This guy. It seems a lot of languages kept the C/K sounds in his name? He’s Kiko in French and Cuco in german (thanks @/aureateart). They seem to reference cuckoo clocks maybe? and the german’s really close to cucco. 

Rupin (ENG) - Rupín (ESP-LA) - Milo (ESP-SP) - Kookin (JP)

Rupin/Rupin are referencing Rupees, since he’s the shopkeeper and the alike. Milo... I... I’m not sure what’s referencing?

Rusta (ENG) - Ganzo (ESP) - Rostaa (JP)

Rusta and Rostaa seem to be referencing Roosters, while Ganzo’s referencing the spanish for Goose! (Ganso)

Scrapper (ENG) - Serbot (ESP) - Sarubo (JP)

Including this lil guy here coz... why not? Serbot seems to be almost the same if not the exact name as Japanese (though Sarubo could just be Server?)

Sparrot (ENG) - Aspir (ESP-LA) - Gorronte (ESP-SP) - Subuha (JP)

Gorronte seems to be a play on “Gorrión” (Sparrow), so, pretty close to English. Aspir..... I’m not sure?

Strich (ENG) - Vestro (ESP) - Osta (JP)

Vestro, like Stritch, references Ostriches, with Ostrich in spanish being “Avestruz”. Seems Japanese references the same animal? and I think french too, since he’s “Latruche” in that language!

Wryna (ENG) - Elenia (ESP-LA) - Alisia (ESP-SP) - Arisu (JP)

Alisia seems to stick to the Japanese name Arisu (Alice), while Elenia went... a different direction. Elenia is a variation of a common spanish name, Elena.

[womenofwonder]

RWBY characters races for AUs set in our world.

How I’m going to do this: three things. The first, the city they live in Remnant. This is the least important because that leaves us with only five…maybe six places compared to our world’s hundreds of countries.

The second will be the original of their names, which they’ll have to keep in the AUs, meaning that they need some culture background for them.

The third will be their fairy tale origins.

So to start, Ruby Rose:

She lives in Vale, which is similar to France (I’ll explain why in another post maybe), but technically grew up in patch, a small island off the coast of Vale. I have no idea about Patch’s culture as we hardly ever see it, so I’m going to skip this one. We also don’t know if either Summer or Taiyang was originally from Vale.

We know Taiyang is Chinese from his name, so I’m going to say she’s half Chinese. I also wrote a western au once and really love the idea of Taiyang being an Asian Redneck…so I think I’m going to say Ruby is very, very southern just because that would be adorable.

But if you don’t want that idea I generally see Taiyang being either Asian-American or Asian-French, or Asian-British if your doing a HP AU. Summer is harder to pin down, but Red Riding Hood was originally an Italian fable, so I’m going to have her be Italian or Italian-American.

Weiss:

Weiss is German, although making her simply white America/British would work. I could see her being Russian too in some AU because Atlas fits well as Russia. For American works, Pennsylvania has quite the German population and coal mines, so that works pretty well for her.

Blake is really complicated. From Remment Australia which is culturally SEA (south East Asian), has an English name but parents with a Hindu-inspired names, but neither looking vaguely Indian. I’m going to assume her family are immigrants (as they are in cannon I think) to Australia, maybe even changed their name to help them fit in. Immigrants from where? Well, India is an option, but I like to think Malaysia. They have a large Indian and Chinese population, and I like to think Blake is a mixture of Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicities, from Malaysia and immigrated to Australia. And if you think this is crazy or unrealistic, you haven’t seen anything yet. The sheer mix of cultures I’ve seen growing up as an ex-pat is insane. This isn’t too crazy.

For Yang, we already have Taiyang as an Asian red-neck. Or at least I do. Raven and Qrow are going to be a little harder to pin down, but I’m think bandits getting replaced by mafia. Which mafia? I don’t know, take you’re pick. Branwen is Welsh, but I can’t think of a Welsh mafia. Coming from Mistral I would see them as being Triad, not Yakuza because Raven’s gang is famous for being less than coordinated.

If you need a logical reason for Yang having blonde hair, Taiyang could be only half Chinese, half blonde (blonde is race right?).

Either way I see Raven operating in an American city like New York or Detroit.

This would mean Yang is fully Chinese ethnically.

JNPR:

Jaune’s name and inspiration are all French. However his mother does come from Mistral (I think), so I do see him being half Chinese, but nationally French. It’s also funny to imagine him with a French accent.

Pyrrha: she’s Greek or maybe Greek-American with her parents being recent immigrants. Argus seems to Remnent-Greece and her name and fairy tale are greek.

Nora: she should be Scandinavian. I feel like in a MCU AU she’s Thor’s daughter. But she also grew up as a street rat in Mistral, which is hard to fit in our world. Therefore I’m going to have her in America, the great melting pot (and also America seems to be more like Mistral than any other Remnent king with our state system), and she going to ethically Scandinavian but knowing nothing of her culture due to her upbringing.

Ren: obviously Chinese, but I might have him be American-Chinese to fit his story nicely in with Nora’s.

Others:

Coco: we’re all ignoring that she’s based off Coco Channel, so let’s make her a LA girl

Velvet: Australia, because of the accent. Or maybe English because that is her story origin

Fox: he’s difficult, because tribes are pretty rare in modern AUs. But his story could work for various things. He’s one of the few black characters so he could come from practically any African tribe (I’m currently going with Hausa because it’s one of the few I know anything about). His name is based off ‘the fox and the hound’ which is a rare American story, so he could also be from a Native American tribe if you want the AU to be more American-based.

Yatsuhashi: Japanese, this one is thankfully easy.

Sun: Chinese. He comes from a tribe as well, but I can’t think of any nomadic Chinese tribes except the Uyghurs. Making Sun a Uyghur doesn’t make much sense but it will serve to piss off certain people on the internet. And now this is going to be taken down, isn’t it? Oh wait, this is tumbrl. This is anarchy. It won’t. Forgot why I liked this place for a second.

Scarlet: sorry for the rambling there. Anyway, Scarlet is definitely English. “I hope I don’t get sand in my shoes.”

Sage: well, he’s black, but other then that we have nothing to go one. He’s also from Mistral but that doesn’t really work? If Mistral is America as well as China I guess we can make him African American. Or whatever else works best for the AU. He might be Indian too now that I think of it. Or even Maori. Really options are limitless here.

Neptune: Yeah, so probably just American, but does have both a French last name and an Italian first name. So probably ethically American (aka white mutt). Also he lives near a port, I think I’m gonna gone with him being from Tacoma Washington because I am.

Flynt: African American

Neon: Japanese-American because of her meme (it started as part of Japanese pop song on YouTube, the latter of which is America summed up in one invention)

Oscar: Hispanic-American, he just looks it. And I’m guessing he lives in Kansas for obvious reasons. His last name isn’t Hispanic but their could be a lot of reasons for that. Or he could be Native American (Pawnee, Cheyenne, and Osage are all Native American tribes in Kansas).

Penny: well if she’s still a robot she probably stays white, but if you want her human in this AU she might end up being half black as Pietro is, although she also could just be adopted. I guess the later makes more sense, huh? I figure she’s American, with her dad working with a ‘well meaning’ but ultimately corrupt government. Probably living in DC, as that has both the government and the poverty issues.

Emerald: oohh, boy. This is hard. Sustrai is Basque, and Aladdin is a French addition to an Arabian story, she herself is dark skinned with anime features that are super unhelpful for this sorta thing.

I have three ideas. Brazilian, mostly as there’s no South American themed RWBY characters I can think of, and it’s diverse enough that someone looking like Emerald would fit. Secondly, for American centered stories she’s just an orphan with no idea of her ethnicity. Or she could be African, Indian, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic or some mixture between those four. It’s honestly really hard to tell. In my fanfic she’s from Suriname and ethnically 1/4 Indian, 1/2 Creole, and 1/4 Javanese.

Ilia: Sioux (Native American). Ilia means a lot of things in a lot of different languages, and Amitola mean rainbow in Sioux, so I decided to just stick with that.

Mercury: American, white mutt American. I’m guessing New York or Philli for where he grew up, it seems like a place where he’d be comfortable

Neo: the new novel reveals her father lived in vale (btw I haven’t read it, I’m just getting this off the internet) and her mother was a assassin who’s origins aren’t known. She doesn’t really have a fairy tale. So I’m going to go with British or French (thank RWBY thoughts for the first one) although in an American AU she works as just a white American.

Robyn: depends on what Atlas is in this AU, but probably German or American.

Qrow: I already mentioned he’s probably Chinese due to being from Mistral. It’s a bit weird to think of him as Asian, but not as weird as it to think of Raven as white, so I’ll take it. Although I do like the idea of him being American Irish, that’s fun.

Winter: whatever Atlas is in this AU, German or American, although British and Russian would work well too.

Maria: Mexican

Salem: If you want a AU where she’s just a normal person then New England or Italian for her story origin

Watts: British

Tyrian: uh…I have no idea, but he looks white. And he kinda has a British accent? I want him to be southern for the accent tho. Probably just another crazy American

Cinder: her fairy tale is French but her origin is Chinese. Also, Cinderella doesn’t really have an origin, it’s an ancient story with every culture having at least one Cinderella story. So I’m going to say Chinese.

Hazel: American, from the Midwest. He’s darkish so maybe he’s a POC? Part Native American or Hispanic? Idk or really care I can’t stand Hazel

Roman Torchwick: American-Italian, he runs/works for the mafia

Ozpin: American because of the whole wizard-of-Oz-thing or French, because he seems to have come from Vale.

Glynda: American or French for the same reasons Ozpin is

Oobleck: Jewish American (because Dr. Seuss was)

Professor Port: Russian, due to his fairy tale, or English, due to his style

Taiyang: already said he’s a red-neck Asian.

Raven: depending on whether you want her to be white or not, either Chinese or Irish American, like I already said.

Cordovin: Karen

Ironwood: again, depends on Atlas in the AU. Either American or German…maybe Russian

Clover: Irish-American (or German, obviously the ace-ops depend on where Atlas is. I’m just going to do the rest of them assuming Atlas is American because Germany isn’t that diverse)

Harriet: African-American, I guess. It kinda messes with the story because Harriet is supposed to be privileged, which doesn’t really work in this AU, but she’s also obviously black.

Elm: Just normal American, maybe greek-American because of the Aesop fable themes

Vine: Tibetan based on his design

Marrow: either African-American or Pakistani/Indian-American. (I’m personally going for Pakistani)

Klein: english. All butlers are English. It’s a rule.

Pietro: African-American

Johanna: Pakistani or Indian American

Fiona: Jewish-American (kinda random but while she’s obviously white she also needs to be a minority for the Faunus thing to work)

May: normal upper glass American/German

Ghira: Half Malay, Half Indian, from Malaysia but immigrated to Australia later in life

Kali: half Chinese, half Indian, but also from Malaysia

Adam: much like Fiona I’m going to assume he’s Jewish due to him being white but still needing to be a minority. German or American, again, depending on where Atlas is. Or he could be Chinese, even though it doesn’t work with his name, due to the theory that he was trafficked much like Cinder. I’m going with ethically Jewish though

Sienna Khan: Indian

Huh, I actually finished that. I’m pretty sure I was accidentally racist multiple times and apologize in advance,

I’m exhausted and starving and not thinking straight. But anyway, here it is. Your very messy guide to modern RWBY AUs. I swear this was insane to sort out.

[langernameohnebedeutung]

What's the best and worst feature of all the languages you speak?

Let me illustrate:

Okay...in all ‘seriousness’:

The best thing about Swedish: Sin/sitt/sina vs. hans/hennes. If you have a sentence like: “He paints his house”, you don’t know whether he’s painting his own house or that of some other guy. But Swedish actually makes that distinction: If it is his own house, you would use sitt, if it’s someone else’s you use the regular possessive pronoun hans. Solves this whole “whose body part is this?” conundrum in writing. For a language almost as unsexy as my own, I appreciate this contribution to porn writing and think we should all adapt it.

The worst thing about Swedish: The prepositions for naming time periods are so counter-intuitive if you speak German and English (where they are pretty similar) 

For example, both German and English say in four weeks/in vier Wochen - so you would expect Swedish to say: i fyra veckor. But instead, it’s “om* fyra veckor”.  In fact, saying “i fyra veckor” means “for four weeks.” (Except if you want to say it didn’t happen - then it’s (Jag har inte pratat) på fyra veckor. - I haven’t spoken for four weeks)

*”Om”, on the other hand, sounds a lot like the German “um”, where “um vier Wochen” could mean: “(it takes) about four weeks.”

Then you have för/für/for - similar words that usually have the same meaning in similar contexts - except when you say the time in Swedish. As I said, you say “i” for "for”. If you want to say for four weeks/für vier Wochen - it’s the same in English in German, but in Swedish:”för fyra veckor sedan” means “four weeks ago”. I have already accepted that I will always fuck this up.

Best thing about English: I think having only one grammatical gender makes things a lot easier - that’s a lot of time saved when learning this language compared to the other ones on this list. Especially paired with hardly any conjugation (although Swedish beats English in that regard with even less conjugation)

Worst thing about English: Okay this is coming from a place of love for this language but why the hell are you so averse to using “one” to express “people in general”? German and Swedish do it with “man”. But in English, it sounds actually strange and unusual to say: “On Tuesdays, one goes to the supermarket” or “In the capital, one takes the train to work” - instead, it’s “you go to the supermarket” and “you take the train” - which “you” might not. It feels very awkward for me when I write some theoretical scenario and always have to accuse the reader of all these horrible things - or I write something fictional and I make a sweeping general statement about human nature and instead I’m making it personal by involving “you”. - or I just write around it and explain that I mean people in general each time. But that takes extra-words. It’s ridiculous.

okay let’s get to the languages who prefer death by grammar

Best thing about German: Not to toot our own horn here, but I do sometimes miss having modal particles in other languages. (To be fair, they exist in other languages too. Wikipedia lists Dutch, Danish, German, Hungarian, Russian, Telugu, Nepali, Indonesian, Chinese and Japanese as examples of languages that use them but I’m sure there are more and also I personally would argue that it it can be a bit hard to define when what serves as a modal particle and how many a language needs to be considered “using” them)

I’d argue that “pretty” is one in English: If you say a sentence like: “This chair is pretty expensive”, “pretty” no longer expresses beauty but instead loses its meaning in favour of changing the tone of the sentence. And German has a whole lot of those.

So if I try to translate a piece of dialogue and someone says something: “Der Schrank ist ja aber so halt noch nicht ganz fertig” - that would literally translate to: “The new cupboard is yes but like that stop yet not completely finished” but the tone is something along the lines of: “I'm not saying this because I’m mad that the new cupboard isn’t finished yet but after all, it’s clearly NOT finished and that is all I’m saying.”

One example from Wikipedia is: “Er liest ja sehr gerne.” (literally: He reads yes very much) = “(as you know) he likes to read." 

And in turn, if I get a sentence from spoken conversation and I’m asked to translate it from German or I want to subtitle a scene from a video it can be a bit difficult because you have to abandon the actual text in order to translate it. And if you explain your choice, it becomes even more difficult because modal particles are used in spoken language and are not very exact and if you translate them, you have to make a choice - and it will never be literally what those words mean. (If you asked a German, what “halt” means in a sentence like “Ist halt so” - I think it would be very hard to explain and you would get a lot of different responses) But if you’d just translate the words, it all becomes meaningless and random - but if you leave them out, the sentence loses its connotation and tone and the dialogue might stop making sense.

Worst thing about German: I could name the fact that we call “nipples” “breast warts” but since Swedish does that as well (call-out!) I’m going to say ... the whole gender dilemma. And before I get anyone’s feathers ruffled, no, I’m not saying “political correctness has gone mad we should just stooop!” - I’m just saying that at some point we have to accept that our language...is just very bad at this. At it’s probably the point where we have to add little glottal stops into our words to signify whether we mean “Kundinnen” (female customers) or “Kund*innen” (”customers of all genders”)  - which in turn we don’t want to confuse with “KundInnen” (Male and female customers). (And that is not to list all the written versions that exist)

Best thing about French: Listen, French gets a lot of shit on this website for the fact that you pronounce about three sounds in every word. But since we’re among the grammar fuckers now: if you have a native language where the ending of each word is hammered in like the last nail into a coffin, you learn to appreciate a language where you don’t. Especially when your teacher goes around and asks you to conjugate random words: As long as you know the general group that a verb comes from and how those endings generally go, you will be fine by just producing a vowel sound that vaguely aligns with that. (And even if you don’t -- you’ll get very far). I always appreciated that in school.

Worst thing about French: I mean, maybe it’s unfair considering French is a Romance language and not a Germanic one but...get a proper Saxon Genitive will ya? An expression that consts of 1 word in Swedish or German becomes 2 in English - fair enough, you’re just not connecting your compound nouns in the end and get a bit prickly if people get too creative with words - but then  it’s 3 in French (4 if the second noun is female and you write “de la”). That’s three extra-words! Plus, the word-order is so counter-intuitive. Switch ‘em around, drop the "de” is all I’m saying. (The Académie Française has sent out a hitman as I wrote this)

Now, obviously I don’t speak Latin but I didn’t do my Latinum to avoid insulting it so:

Best thing: Depending on your outfit choices, people think you’re smart - or trying to curse them. Both are fun.

Worst thing: Listen, the only words I learnt are about war, murder, executions, and slaves - and the only people I could talk to if I spoke it would be...monks and nuns. Who probably won’t appreciate this kind of talk. 

[anikkis-fantasirealities]

“Finding the Captivating Dialogue for You”

④ How-to-do Feature ┊ ᴬˡˡ ᵒᶠ ᵃⁿ ᵃⁿᵉᶜᵈᵒᵗᵉ ˢᵒ ᵃʳᶦᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃˡˡᵘʳᶦⁿᵍ ᵃᵗ ᵒⁿᶜᵉ··· ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᵃ ᶜᵒᵐᶦᶜ ᶜᵃᵖᵗᵘʳᶦⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒʳᵉˢ ᵒᶠ ᶜᵒˡᵒʳᵉᵈ ᶜᵒʳⁿᵉᵃˢ·

꒰⁺˚₊·₍₍loading...₎₎ ✎...۪۫❁ཻུ۪۪ -ˏˋ 🃏 ˊˎ-

༘✶ ㊉ ㈦〘 ⅯⅯ 〙⋆｡˚𓆟 ༉ ║ Posted : ０６/１５/２１° ｡༄ ‧₊˚ ๑ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ •ଓ.° ｡❍ ㈩ ㊇

- - ——— ꒰ An article by Nicole “Nikki” Elaine S. Chua ꒱

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥ ࿐ྂ—͙❬₊° ᶦ ᵃᵐ ᵃ ᵇˡᵒᵍᵍᵉʳ ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳ ᵃˡˡ·“= ‹⸙͎

Cure your boredom by finding something new! Enter the world of art and stories combined! Find the story to obsess over, only here on WEBTOON! Hold on, let me just shake out all the interpretative literary devices I had from my previous articles... There, much better! Welcome back to your favorite bunny—Nikki’s Tumblr blog! It feels a bit different here compared to when I am on Amino, to be honest. Yes, when I formally write without too many literary devices, my blogs smoothen like this, like it was polished with sandpaper or something. Anyway, I loosen up in order to display my love for something I’d like to offer to this world—one of those precious gems that have not been excavated in the realm of fandoms. Today, in this article, let’s enter the world of Webtoons and figure out 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙒𝙀𝘽𝙏𝙊𝙊𝙉 (𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙗𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨) 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧!

Oh, hold on your horses! You’re asking what do I mean by Line Webtoons? My apologies for not explaining that before I bring you along this own carpet ride. To begin with this sudden class session, webtoons are webcomics that have a vertical reading format. In Korea, “manhwa” is often something you’d hear when the locals there refer to comics. These webtoons originated from South Korea, and now, they are rebranded by different companies with their hit titles. One of those brands is Naver Webtoon, and internationally, it is known as Line Webtoons. In 2019, it has now become WEBTOON, for short! Korean webtoons that are from Naver Webtoon have been officially translated into English, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, Spanish, French, and German languages in the present. At the same time, all these countries of the world wide web get to also be webtoon creators, too!

Comics are a mix of art and writing in multiple panels. Though unlike those readable from right to left, or the complete opposite of that, webtoons take advantage of vertical scrolling to reveal shocking key plot points and add more aesthetic in the blooming & stunning art they provide to the audience. They don’t upload once a month or year—in WEBTOON, there’s always something to read daily! Most WEBTOON series upload once a week, depending on its creator. As a reader, you’ll surely enjoy the vast options of webtoons to choose from reading at your own pace. There are many interesting genres, art styles, character designs, pairings, story lines, and themes to look forward to. The best part is, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚! There’s a perfect story to dwell into for all kinds of people, so if you’re curious in knowing how to begin reading, let’s go ahead and jump into the app!

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𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓵: 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗡 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗡 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲.

The first step to get started with WEBTOON is approaching its services, first! You If you haven’t encountered WEBTOON yet, you could either take a little peak behind its digital pages online. I recommend downloading the app to enjoy the WEBTOON experience to the maximum level. If your first language is not English, perhaps a more comfortable version of the app made for your location fortunately exists! Search for WEBTOON on the playstore, and you will spot the application in a flash. It is only 21 MB or megabytes big, so it is not painful to the phone storage.

However, if you want to save space, you can always take the other route and access the WEBTOON site here. You can search for WEBTOON on your device’s browser, and the link you see immediately will lead you to the destination you desire to land onto. The site is mostly used by personal computer users and those who cannot download the app. It functions the same way as the app, but not all the features, events, and other cool activities can be done here. So, I still suggest to head over to your device’s playstore to get the application!

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓶: 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻-𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗡 𝗮𝗽𝗽.

Any app would instruct the user to create an account to use its services. For WEBTOON though, this is very worth it, for it gives you a chance to use your account to comment on WEBTOON episodes you adore, or subscribe to the series you want to follow and support. You can create an account using your email address and the password to access it personally. Just the same as any other process in signing-up for an account, you will type your own username. You could also your very own Facebook, Twitter, Google, or LINE account to enter, and your name on the site you’ve chosen to log-on with will become your name on WEBTOON.

It is editable, so don’t worry if your username so happened to be humiliating, and you absolutely must change it! Though, if you don’t want to create an account just yet, users can view webtoons with a press of a finger without signing up for anything, if you’d press the return key on your phone or if you’re browsing on the site. Once you submit your approval that you’ve read and understood the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy of WEBTOON, you can finally set foot on the real fun of webtoons!

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𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓷: 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀” 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲.

Okay, do not get confused! We’ll get to the rest of the areas of the app in a little bit! There’s a lot of things to do, now that we’ve finally arrived on WEBTOON platform itself. Though before being hyped at the things you are seeing right now, I’d like you to scroll down to the bottom of this “For You” section, and dig up the “Find your series” questionnaire to answer it. This is so that you can have an idea of what to expect here on WEBTOON, as well as what to read first. This is a questionnaire that will also introduce you to stories that you’d enjoy, without getting totally overwhelmed with content to stretch out into. No pressure in choosing, it will not affect how your account is set-up! Don’t worry about the results either. Answer as natural and honest as you can! This step is only applicable to those who are on the WEBTOON application. It is also optional to the reader, specifically if they are already used to reading webcomics and know what to expect.

Once you enter, it’d ask what are the genres you like. There is horror, comedy, thriller, fantasy, drama, romance, superhero, slice of life, action, and sci-fi. To clarify, slice of life does not literally mean a splitted life! It is a genre for stories that showcase the everyday life of a person, that are either relatable or engaging to read about. Choose as many genres as you want—it’s totally fine to check everything, or to choose one specific genre. Then, you can choose which art styles you prefer from the choices you see in front of your screen. Again, don’t worry about picking art styles—this is not a critical survey! Go ahead and pick many art styles you find pleasing to the eye. Then, you’ll get a list of webtoons recommended to you by the WEBTOON management! Easy, right?

You can take note of these titles given to you, or you can press on the webtoons you find interest in, and you will be taken to the webtoon’s contents in a jifty. That’s where you can read the description of the title’s plot, and you can instantly start reading if it strummed your heartstrings. You can continue discovering more stories to read from here, since the freedom is yours. Even so, there are still parts of the application to discuss that may give you an extra hand later on. Stick around this article for more of that, especially when you need an enthusiatic tour guide like me!

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓸: 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀” 𝘁𝗮𝗯.

If you’re still following me, you may exit the questionnaire that you entered into a while ago. Now, if you scroll up, we’re back seeing graphics moving sideways at the front page. Oh, did you something catch your eye there? These graphics that WEBTOON fans usually call as “banners” (or, for me, personally—anyway,) are another way to gain interest in choosing stories to read. Long story short, when I became a WEBTOON reader, my all-time favorite webcomic from WEBTOON was first shown to me on a banner. (A very epic one, too!) Most of the webtoons shown here are in the “Originals” tab! From “For You,” press the Originals tab next. These are the tenths of webtoons that you can also read here on WEBTOON. The image is just one section of that. If you can observe, there are the seven days of the week stated at the top of these webtoons, under the word, “Daily.” You might be asking why is this section called, “Originals.” All these webtoons found under this tab are in partnership with the WEBTOON management, and these stories release new episodes weekly!

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That simply means that the creators of these webtoons are working together with WEBTOON to share their stories with us, and what’s the best thing? They get to tell their stories, while fulfilling their dream full-time job as a paid webcomic creator! Their work is now known as “WEBTOON ORIGINALs,” though before, they used to be “Featured Webtoons.” Everyday, various webtoons of different genres update with new parts to continue the story from where they left off previously, so there’s definitely something to look forward to from Mondays to Sundays. There are also more choices here than those in the questionnaire, so if you weren’t contented with what you got from answering questions, you can also come here to pick out stories. There are also webtoons under “Completed,” and we’ll get to those in a bit. If you’d ask me what I usually do on Originals, I read everything in general, so I never run out of things to read, but I’m more fond of fantasy genres. You can also choose webtoons from all days of the week, so you can keep reading something everyday before going to school or work, or perhaps, when you’re about to sleep.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓹: 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘃𝗮𝘀” 𝘁𝗮𝗯.

Now, there must be another question in your head. “How are these webcomic creators chosen to be featured, or have their work included under WEBTOON ORIGINALs?” There are a couple of ways, though, we’ll focus on this canvas of ideas for this article. Usually, creators are discovered on the fan submissions area of the application. Yes, you heard me right! If you are someone who loves drawing comics as well, then you can give this opportunity a shot and meet other aspiring creators here on “Canvas!” So, let’s move from the “Originals” tab and head straight into the “Canvas” section. The webtoons here are under the word, “Spotlight.” It’s simply because these webtoons are uploaded by other webcomic creators who are not affiliated by WEBTOON, yet. So, you could say that this is the wider scope of webtoons to look through. The best thing about “Canvas” which used to be “Discover,” is the fact that we can support these writers and/or artists by reading their stories.

WEBTOON is a platform perfect for people to test the waves of being a webcomic creator. At the same time, they are given the chance to gain a community of a readers that you could also be a part of! However, since these webtoons labeled as “CANVAS WEBTOONs,” are not fully paid by WEBTOON, there is no guarantee that they’ll upload episodes every week. They are free to upload on their own running schedule, but in return, they are also free to create any story they like, as long as it follows the WEBTOON guidelines. Just a brief heads-up, you must have a computer or laptop, in order to upload your own webcomic on WEBTOON. For us readers, it’s a big chance for us to find stories we’ll fall in love with—the one that will make us invested and devoted to how the story continues. If you give the CANVAS WEBTOON more support, who knows? You might be a part of their life accomplishment journey to doing what they love for a living. Very heartwarming, I see.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓺: 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁��𝗼𝗻𝘀.

We’ve already seen all the webtoons that the app has to offer to us. Despite that, there’s a chance that you still don’t know what stories pique the elements you like in a plot. Now that you know that there are more webtoons to search for on the WEBTOON app, you might need a guide or factor to know what’s the best story to try out. This is why the rankings and genre sections exist on the app! You can view the rankings of WEBTOON ORIGINALs and CANVAS WEBTOONs in their respective tabs. For ORIGINALs, you can click on the badge-like icon to the top right, while in CANVAS, you can see the rankings immediately. If you want to see the complete rankings list for CANVAS WEBTOONs, pressing the arrow at the right side of the rankings preview will do the trick! This step is for users who cannot decide based on what gem of a webtoon preview has caught their attention. If you'd like to find out what webtoons are popular overall, or in their corresponding genres, be sure to use this feature to weigh the odds. We are people who are influenced by whatever is loved by many, after all.

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If ten genres weren't enough choices during the questionnaire, well, thankfully there is more to play with! In the genre sections of both types of webtoons on WEBTOON, which you can see alongside the rankings, you can also view webtoons listed under the supernatural, mystery, sports, historical, heartwarming, and informative genres! So, in total, there are 16 genres to step into, and that's a plenty! In that said area, you can tell which genres have the best stories based on how many people read each webtoon. You can also sort these webtoons by interests, likes, or date. Just press the "Genres" button next to the "Daily" or "Spotlight" text on either tabs. The "sorting the webtoons by interests" option would depend on what your account has read, so far. These features are really handy to introduce to you new webtoons to take your eyes on or pay attention to.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓻: 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗠𝘆” 𝘁𝗮𝗯.

I suppose you've already chosen a webtoon to read, or maybe you're already into collecting webtoon titles to remember reading. Regardless, let's make things a little easier. You'd need your account, first! If you haven't created one yet, head to the log-in page and go back to Step No. 2. Catch up here when you're done, alright? If you’re already here, let me take you a stroll around this “My” tab. This section has list of features that are for the account’s convenience and personalization. It tells you what webtoons episodes have you recently read, downloaded, commented, and unlocked. It also states what webtoons have you subscribed to. Oh, yes, you can do all these things for your favorite stories on WEBTOON! To try that out, go to your chosen webtoon to read. As a reader, you are given the chance to rate the webtoon from 1 to 10—whether it is an ORIGINAL or CANVAS-type. That also makes heads turn away or stare closer at the stories, to see if they are worthy of their time.

Just like how subscriptions work on Youtube or any other platform, subscribing to a webtoon with your account means that you’ll get notifications whenever it uploads. It’s also easier to access subscribed webtoons through the “My” tab, instead of continously searching for your favorite stories all over the application or site as if you’re in a never-ending maze. You can track down the episodes you’ve downloaded for offline use as well, which comes in great situations where wifi is not available. Be aware that downloaded episodes will remain on your account for 30 days only, however. After 30 days, you may download the episodes again. Commenting on episodes can give you interaction with other readers’ ideas—those reactions, arguments, discussions, and, well! You could even talk about romantic pairing wars and all that’s fizzling in the premise of the story. With this section of the app, your account will be able to be fit and active, while it gives access to more parts of WEBTOON—including the possession of fast pass coins to unlock episodes for early reading! Wait a minute. Why must we, and how do we do that?

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𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓼: 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Fast pass on WEBTOON allows you to read episodes before they are publicly released. In other words, you can gain early access to your most awaited ORIGINAL WEBTOONs’ episodes, especially when they get on that gripping cliffhanger that makes you want to go crazy with what happens next! The question is, how can we use fast pass? We can do that with coins called, “fast pass coins.” This in-app currency will permit you to avail one fast pass episode every five coins. In order to get coins, however, there is real money transactions involved. Though, do not fret, because you do not need to spend a dime or a single peso over buying fast pass episodes! WEBTOON offers users to gain five or more fast pass coins through events in the app.

These vary from having to log-in in 7 days, or read similarly themed webtoons that are featured per event. It’s free to do, though, they do not come by all the time—events do not run forever, after all. So, take on the challenge when it arrives, and get yourself some fast pass episodes to enjoy! One benefit in taking part in fast pass coins events is reading new stories that you’ve never tried peaking into before, because who knows when will it become your top webtoon choice in the future? Take it for me—one webtoon became my favorite when the first fast pass coins event entitled, “Climb the Tower challenge,” occured. I participated and had climbed 100 episodes, and now here I am chilling with floors and betrayal!

If you haven’t asked, all fast pass coins given to each webtoon will have a part of its value given to the creators of the said stories. In other words, it’s like directly supporting the artists, writers, and creators of the stories you love! This step can only be done to ORIGINAL WEBTOONs. CANVAS WEBTOONs do not have fast pass, though its creators can provide Patreon accounts where fans can donate or give thanks for their eloquent and awesome stories to tell.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓽: 𝗗𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

Remember when I mentioned “completed” webtoons prior to this step? It’s interesting that there also webtoons that have ended, so there is a section for WEBTOON ORIGINALs that have ended in the “Originals” tab. Here, you can still binge-read completed webtoons for as many times you want to, and you can also gain a collection of read finished webtoons on your proud wall. The satisfaction is there when you finish a story—but, wait a minute. We are familiar with fast pass, now, what’s up with this daily pass? For some completed webtoons, they are readable with the daily pass feature. This makes a webtoon’s episodes first episode public for reading, but the twist is, to read the next episodes, you must come back everyday to continue. Episodes in the middle until the end of the story are locked, and can only be carried on if you’ve lended a daily pass entry for it to be opened for a limited time. Then, you can access the next episodes in the following days. Tedious as it may be, you could also pay for fast pass coins to read these specific completed webtoons quicker.

However, if your route is free reading, it is also a fulfilling experience to follow a story as if it was still uploading everyday, instead of reading it in one sitting. This is the patience, yet satisfaction, that can be acquired from daily pass. That is also the goal of WEBTOON for implementing such a feature to their application. You don’t have to pay for anything if you don’t want to speed up your time in reading. This step is definitely for you, if you’re already reading ongoing webtoons, but want to find more stories in the completed section. Trust me, the stories we got here with the daily pass feature were real hits back in the day—somehow, the dust on their covers will be swept away when you touch it. It’s worth it, so why not give it a shot? I heard that one completed webtoon here was recently adaptated into an anime, another has been published physically, while the other was given a live-action K-drama on Netflix! Let’s see if you can figure out which stories these are!

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 ⓾: 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀!

So, once you’ve found your beloved webtoons, fully invested into them with your account, made use of fast pass, and indulge into daily pass, the only thing left to do to begin on WEBTOON is to stick to it! Keep being a WEBTOON reader, and enjoy as many webtoons as you’d like. As you keep being on the application or site, you will encounter more features of WEBTOON, and maybe, as you stick around, more surprises & stories will be coming your way. There’s the fan translation area to explore, where you can translate the webtoons you’d love to support and be a contributor to its spread to other languages. There are thousands of CANVAS WEBTOONs being promoted in the front page for explorers to uncover reading. Spotlights at the bottom of the front page compile webtoons together, and you’d get to see more webtoons that may be under the spotlighted theme you adore!

You will be a part of this passionate WEBTOON community, and I’d like to thank you if you keep engaging into this craft as a reader. WEBTOON is a group of people who loves comics, and webcomics alike. It’s a place where creators and readers get to connect, at the same time, reach for their dreams. This is where their imaginations sprint wild—the happiness, sadness, anger, fear, worry, doubt, cheer, and excitement at every panel scrolling down your devices. You will be joining along with its growth, as well as all webcomic creators trying out on the platform, that WEBTOON sincerely cares for, wherever or whoever they are. You can witness how its stories will not only become panels and dialogue, but also animation, live-action, physical books, and other media types all around the world.

Do continue finding the captivating dialogue for you in WEBTOON, because for sure, it will become the message you will hold onto for life. Dramatic Nikki aside, thank you very much for reading this article! I had a blast—almost like I was going to be blasted on a rocket ship to Mars, while I was writing this feature. I hope my steps were able to help you get started on WEBTOON, and I’d like to bid you all the best on your personal voyage here. I believe each story of how we became attached to something is very significant, so take this moment to make it a memorable event in your life. Once more, thank you for reading! Come back again in another blog in the unknown future, where my fantasies become realities! A Nikki reminder: don’t just be ordinary when everyone is doing wrong—be unORDINARY, right & just, and continue to climb without holding back!

· * ✫ * ⊹ * ˚ . . 　　· ⋆ * . * . . · . · . * · . · · + . ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ· ** ˚ . . + 　　· ⋆ * . * . . · . · . *

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ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ. · + . *

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ⋆ * . * . .

ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ . · ·

ㅤㅤ﹙dedication. ﹚ ୨˚୧ ˚ ༘♡.↳ ₊˚‧

This blog is dedicated to you who is like me, and him who is like her. Both webtoon characters that I salute the most—and that beautiful set of panels that has become my lifestory. May you be in work for ten years or five years, I will cherish you, with this shining sword—diamond, ADAMAS.

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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ﹋﹋﹌﹌﹌「 🗼 」﹌﹌﹌﹋﹋

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ┊彡 Credits

➥ Cover Edit

➫ WEBTOON app

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➥ First Blog Dividers

➫ Soara Academy

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➥ The Rest of the Blog Dividers

➫ WEBTOON app

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➥ Source of Information

➫ Webtoon Wikipedia page

➫ WEBTOON (Line Webtoon) Wikipedia page

➫ My own knowledge as a WEBTOON reader

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...Are you asking me if I wanted to be a WEBTOON ambassador...? Yes, but I have no social media influence. I'm just a small bunny in a burrow who loves talking and helping people get to know more about WEBTOON. Also, thank you for liking this, cheezbot. You're such a cute Tumblr bot, indeed.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ⭆ Back to Homepage ⭅

⇦ Previous Blogㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

[nobodies-png]

If each member was a language, what language would they be and why?

I’m assuming you mean from the OrgXIII so here you go ! This was an interesting question lolol - I had to look up and read a lot of articles on wikipedia to make sure I didn’t end up saying bad or weird shit bUT IT WAS SUPER FUN 

Xemnas :

Greek, probably ? The language and culture that rivaled Latin and Rome throughout history and despite it’s age, it MANAGES to still be a living language (if you think I overthink too much about metaphors and shit just wait till you read the rest of answers). It also fits all Scala Ad Caelum’s aesthetic inspired by Greece and all the shenanigans with the Norts ! 

 Xigbar :

LEET Speak just to give every homestucker a heart attack. Maybe just surfer speak, if it counts.  Xigbar would fit Latin perfectly - it’s a dead language and the source of many other languages just like Xigbar is the fucking source of many things that go down in KH. Cryptic and old, like him ! And considering his ties with the KHux Foretellers and such, it makes sense for him to be Latin, right ? 

Xaldin :

I literally have no idea why but I think of Portuguese when I think of Xaldin. I havE LIKE NO ARGUMENTS OR EXPLANATIONS, IT’S JUST A THING (tm) SO YOU’RE FREE TO ADD TO THIS. Or give him a different language to be w h e e z e.

Vexen :

You know when old people try to be hip and come up with shit like How o You Do Fellow Kids / I’ll Krump With You Sweetie ? Yeah that’s him Okay but honestly, when I was a kid I really liked the idea of Vexen just screaming shit in Latin whenever his experiments went wrong. Now that i’m older, I like to imagine the same thing except now he speaks a Slavic language. I wouldn’t be able to tell you e x a c t l y which one, though. But I guess also a language from north Europe would work, like Finnish or Swedish - mostly because the countries remind me of cold weather lol

Lexaeus :

Nghhhh, I wanna say either ASL/Sign Language or Braille - but i’ll go with Braille ! Lexaeus is a quiet man of a few words, so I think it suits him just fine to be a language that doesn’t need to be spoken. And we know he’s tactful and gentle, considering he does a lot of puzzles in his free time, so Braille seems perfect for him ! While he might not actually need Braille, Lexaeus would be that kind of guy who just teaches others how to read and tries to normalize the use of Braille !

Zexion :

A lot of people might give me shit for not making Zexion Latin bUT LIKE LISTEN. THIS SMART BOY WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE CHINESE/MANDARIN. Think about it, we’re talking about a super flexible language whose entonation can change the meaning of a sentence completely - yes, i’m talking about that one poem that only has ONE word and it still manages to be a fully fledged story. Like, i’m an artist, not a literary major but I still think that’s super smart and dope and i’ll gladly compare that to magic anytime. In retrospect, it matches Zexion’s illusion motif and complex character !

Saix :

Uhhhh, i’d say either Japanese or Russian. Cause both are languages with strong accents and pronunciations which suit Saix’s strong and firm character - and also because Russian reminds me of NASA and space for some reason and Japanese makes me think of that one tale about the rabbit on the moon. Also Japan puts a lot of emphasis in discipline, honor and loyalty too, traits that Saix shares.

Axel :

Axel is definitely Spanish. Not to be confused with the latino dialects from South America ! I’m talking Spain’s spanish ! And no, I didn’t choose this one because it’s an “exotic sexy firey language”, tRUST ME IT’S MY FIRST LANGUAGE AND IT’S ANYTHING BUT THAT - I chose spanish because it’s an abrasive and brash language. Most words (and the insults specially) give the feeling you’re about to spit on someone’s face and be a cocky disrespectful brat OR you’re just a super friendly and extroverted fella - it suits Axel’s previous ruthless mercenary personality with his current and contrasting kind, outgoing self. 50/50.

Demyx :

Okay hear me out, it’s been like 45 minutes since I went researching to write Demyx’s answer and I still don’t know if I have a proper one. I wanted to say a language from India, since it’s where his signature sitar originates from and what else can accompany a sitar better than the language of the place it was pretty much created in ? So researched Ravi Shankar, the Sitar Maestro and a super important figure in indian classical music. But I know barely nothing about that side of Asia, so i’m NOT exactly sure what language he spoke or used in his music ! Like I looked for his songs and they’re in Gujarati, but HMMMM, NOT SURE CHIEF. 

So if anyone feels like educating me on this subject, please go ahead. Otherwise I have to give Demyx the way us millennials talk and oH boy.

Luxord :

I’ll go with the obvious choice here : English. Like, back in the day, most people just HC’d Luxord as a britishman because of his mannerisms and etc etc - but like, it works for him ! He’s closely tied to Alice and Wonderland in both the game and the manga, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean like come on it’s rIGHT there. Also imo, british English just sounds like super polite and elegant, the way Luxord acts most of the time.

Marluxia :

Either German or the language of flowers. German because it’s That Type Of Language™ that seems to have a word for every specific thing, action and feeling no matter how obscure - which kinda seems to suit him somehow ? A language with a rough appearance, intimidating to most people due to the hard sounds but eloquent, deep and extensive ! The other option is pretty obvious, considering his power with nature and stuff - Marluxia is definitely the time to give bouquets and flowers as gifts with double edged meanings and intentions. 

Larxene :

The only one that comes to mind is French. Just cause I think Larxene reads french literature in the 358Days manga - but like, dark and smart stuff only Intellectuals™ can understand. And also because it’s a tricky language to speak properly (LISTEN I TOOK 5 YEARS OF FRENCH AND I STILL DIE WITH ALL THE VOWELS). There’s just something about the way it’s spoken that screams her name. It’s fast paced, coquettish, sounds mature, there’s a lot of sharp sounds. Y’know !

Roxas :

Not specifically a language, but Roxas reminds me of the mix every bilingual person speaks sometime when they can’t remember a specific way of saying or explaining something. Or when your group of friends is mostly bilingual too and y’all just mix both languages and it’s a fucking mess for outsiders ? ( Like “Me cago en la fucking madre que te parió” o “I swear to god pOR QUE ERES ASI” are examples from the groupchat I am, wheeze). So probably Spanish and English ! 

Xion :

I’m torN AGAIN between ASL/Sign Language and Braille. But I think i’ll go with sign language ! Not to get Deep and Philosophical, but Sign Language seems to fit Xion, someone whose voice was silenced by those around her. We know she’s timid and quiet, but she’s also young and energetic, quick and witty around her friends - so unlike Lexaeus who’d calmly read using Braille, Xion is the type who’d sign at the speed of sound when excited or panicking and she’d enjoy sending secret messages to her friends. 

[garreaus-a]

hi, everyone ! it’s jessie again. i couldn’t help myself, ok ? i had to bring in my Chaotic Good, espionage-elite, French son samuel ... i hope u like him :’). he’s a character i’ve had awhile from a previous rpg / my indie ( aka the Archive ) so i adjusted his backstory a lil’ to fit here. again, please hmu on discord if you’d like to plot !! <3

⌠ BEN BARNES, 36, CISMALE, HE/HIM ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, SAMUEL GARREAU ! originally hailing from BLACKTHORNE, this alum specializes in THREAT ELIMINATION. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of ( complacent smirks paired with attentive eyes; the aroma of expensive, but fresh cologne; the decision to just “wing it”; a cigarette between lips ).  it’s the ( leo )’s birthday on 08/14/1983, and when they were still in school their most requested dish was BOUILLABAISSE from the school’s chefs. hopefully their presence can help ease the minds of gallagher students.

𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈.

in the late 1970s-80s, there were a string of infamous art robberies and trafficking occurring around france, which linked to notorious art thieves from both france and america. french-american cia agent matthieu garreau was assigned to assist the central directorate of the judicial police and the dgse in their investigation. french art curator adeyln legrand ( her fam is Old Money rich bc they own museums across the country ) was involved in the case as well, helping the agencies identify the stolen art pieces and their worth. as soon as matthieu laid eyes on her, it was love at first sight !

samuel elias garreau was born in paris, france — just before matthieu was sent back to washington d.c. he was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents ( who lived in marseille ) for most of his childhood. his childhood was filled with love, art, linguistics & french cuisine. he became a polyglot at a very young age, knowing how to speak french, english and spanish fluently. his father visited his wife and son as much as he could in france, but eventually, the two moved to washington d.c. when samuel was 10-years-old. 

a bit of context on the garreau family: the garreau family name has been involved in espionage for a VERY long time. lineages stem back to being loyal spies for the french monarchy for many generations before the surviving garreaus immigrated to america to escape WWII. many relatives eventually returned to france, but samuel’s paternal great-grandparents decided to continue to raise their children in the united states & establish connections with american intelligence agencies. 

immediately, matthieu wanted to begin espionage training ( already samuel was a couple years behind in hand-to-hand combat / weaponry training, so he’s eager ). adelyn was a bit Conflicted but ... lil’ energetic, happy-go-lucky samuel was ECSTATIC !! what better way to bond with your father, am i right ??

those 4 years before spy prep high school was full of father-son bonding, grueling combat training, & survival skill training. but, samuel was also a normal, private elementary / middle school student in washington d.c. it was a lot of pressure — juggling school, his blossoming social life, and keeping the whole “ i’m training to become a spy ” thing a secret bc sam CANNOT stop talking

before samuel busted at the seams, he was sent off to a prestigious spy prep school on the east coast to truly hone his skills and begin to identify what he may excel at as a spy; however, sam didn’t take it seriously ... like at ALL. it was mostly because he was so bored — he needed something stimulating / challenging. often samuel was being a Sneaky jerk, pulling pranks & being a kleptomaniac; however, his grades showed the opposite of his delinquent behavior. he was excelling in all of his classes.

the garreaus did not know what to do with samuel. literally, they had a whole damn family meeting about where he’s headed in his spy career bc there’s NO WAY any spy university would be willing to take him. the plan would be to utilize their connections in france and get him enrolled in an academy there until ...

blackthorne academy showed up outta nowhere and was like “ hey, we’ll whip his ass into shape. give him to us. ” the garreaus were reluctant due to the academy’s reputation and suspicious as to HOW blackthorne caught wind of their samuel; however, maybe this is what he needed. the most against this was his mother, but her voice held no authority. 

samuel was in for a RUDE awakening at blackthorne. maybe it was for the better ? he majored in THREAT ELIMINATION + LINGUISTICS, CULTURE, & ASSIMILATION ( whatever was blackthorne’s version of those were ). 

his first year there practically BROKE him, but by his sophomore year, his flaws became refined skills. somehow, his extrovert / devil-may-care and shrewd personality still shined amongst his callous and/or sadistic peers. 

the codename HERMES seemed to be used by his instructors sometimes to “ make fun ” of samuel, the label representing his ability to outwit his peers, mischievous and intrepid nature, proficient adaptability, and most importantly, he mastered the art of infiltration & extraction — just as the god of thieves would ( the ONLY time he’s the quietest compared to his peers tbh ) u know ... also stole lives too ... i know that’s cheesy SHHH

of course ... we all know the whole deal about blackthorne. he was molded into the perfect assassin, not a sophisticated spy that could have a drink with james bond or ... with his prestigious, royal spy family. 

throughout his many years of fieldwork across the globe, samuel was many things for both private clients and espionage / government agencies ( mostly doing a lot of infiltration / extraction & surveillance undercover missions ), even sometimes an actual thief for the right price. 

however, despite samuel’s slight identity crisis, he earned quite the name for himself in the espionage world and solidified himself as a reliable secret agent. but he’s still a pain in the butt :-P

during blackthorne’s last years, samuel often was asked to come by as a guest instructor, a desperate attempt to liven things back up to relive its better days. despite the absolute DEMONS his students were being, it surprised him that he actually enjoyed teaching. 

so, he was a bit shocked ( and ecstatic ) to hear that gallagher requested HIM out of the many blackthorne alumni to be a part of the faculty, let alone the threat elimination instructor. who would be a better teacher to teach future spy how to take down an assassin than an ACTUAL assassin ( and one who made quite a Reputation at blackthorne for outsmarting his upperclassmen and instructors ) ?

𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈.

tbh, samuel is the epitome of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

he lives for the adrenaline rush; he will go out of his way and even risk his life sometimes to make missions more exciting ... but obviously, with a little planning beforehand to make sure missions are completed successfully

sam surprisingly is cooperative ( even if he really wants to do the opposite, he’d listen unless his quick-wit is essential for the situation ). his many years of experiences have made him realize how important intel and medical agents are to missions. he has a lot of respect for his fellow agents and students who aren’t concentrating their studies in the more physical combative majors

samuel likes being a nuisance. he’s quite devious and gets away with it a lot LMAO

he’s such a thespian it’s Unreal ... he’s so dramatic. but, this makes him excel at undercover missions bc this man enjoys acting way too much

samuel LOVES his students and it really cracks him up because if blackthorne student sam heard he’d be a mentor in the future, he’d laugh in your face

aka he’s the Cool Teacher at gallagher ok :’)

𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙴𝚁 / 𝙵𝚄𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂.

he still has the slightest french accent when he speaks, mostly to latch on to a remaining attachment he has to his mother and previous “ normal life ”

an excellent cook ... obviously he enjoys cooking french cuisine the most 

he also is an avid art enthusiast and also loves fashion and architecture. he spends the majority of his salary on designer clothes and art pieces

if the faculty have to become normal professors, samuel is definitely up for teaching anything world history related !!

randomly knows a lot of natural history trivia thanks to his maternal grandmother, who was a botanist

the languages samuel currently knows is: french, english, spanish, italian, russian, german, arabic, japanese, and chinese ( mandarin & cantonese )

and that’s it !! im exhuasted and i can’t think of any wcs atm so pls if u guys have anything in mine PLEASE let me know :’)

[gascon-en-exil]

So Who’s the Queen?: A Chess of Blades Review (Part 2)

Part 1

With the general overview out of the way it’s time to jump into a critique of the real substance of this game: the four men who can fall in love with Rivian and turn him into the champion bottom he was always destined to be. As with last time I’ll be avoiding major plot spoilers but will spare no detail when I turn my discriminating eye toward the game’s scenes of sweet, tender lovemaking...or raw, kinky fucking, whatever floats your boat. Some of them could go either way.

Fun fact: my silly subtitle for the sex scenes comes from a Japanese expression jokingly proposed as an alternative source for the word yaoi. I thought it only appropriate given what I’m judging here.

Arden

It took some effort for me to ignore that this guy shares his name with the least fuckable bachelor of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, but eventually I managed. It helps that the two have nothing else in common, up to and including preference of sexual partners.

Arden is the best friend romance of CoB, the only one with whom Rivian has an established history. Thinking back to the similarly positioned Ian in Coming Out on Top, this is a visual novel character type that presents a unique challenge for the writer(s) in that there has to a be an explanation for why the two of them don’t shack up until the events of the game. I rather like CoB’s reasoning for this, as it’s one that plays into both Arden and Rivian’s insecurities and explains why Rivian is so prickly to a supposed close friend during the shared prologue. Arden is clingy and overly expectant, and the game allows this to feel off-putting even partway through his route (which is shared with the “secret” fourth love interest, in a scenario where Rivian decides that he and Arden have grown into such different people that reconciliation is impossible). This is an unusual but not unwelcome way to lead into what is undoubtedly the fluffiest of the romances, in which Arden has to be open about his self-conscious reservations and Rivian has to be willing to forgive. Arden’s protectiveness of Rivian also becomes less grating as the route goes on and the two start to face genuine danger, and as Rivian points out that kind of dedication is actually quite sweet when it’s wanted. The only really awkward thing about the construction of Arden’s route is that, because most of their relationship drama comes from the fallout of their youthful infatuation, it has very little to do with the main plot of a kidnapped little girl. It is at least the most morally straightforward of the routes, one that brings out both Arden’s loyalty to Rivian and to his kingdom (even though he is a bit dense about it, in the tradition of most lawful good paladin-esque type characters) and Rivian’s buried affection for his family. Like I said, it’s pretty fluffy on the whole.

The “Ow, my ass!” rating: Mild. As might be expected Arden’s sex scene is the most vanilla in the game, which is fitting because 1) it matches the more innocent passion of a childhood romance gone horizontal(ish), and because 2) Arden is also a virgin somehow, despite having spent several years in a military environment in a setting where no one cares if guys hook up with each other. There’s no lube, but I can excuse it because Arden both fingers and rims Rivian beforehand. More significantly, Rivian rides Arden’s cock which is not only the most active he ever is in a sex scene but also a great position for the inexperienced to get accustomed to the feeling of taking a dick. Don’t get the impression that this means that Rivian is taking a dominant role, however; the term “power bottom” is more about attitude than positioning, and Rivian is still very much lacking in that department. Also, they have sex on a chair and I have no idea why, since there’s a perfectly serviceable bed in the same room. I like to be able to hold onto my partner’s shoulders when I’m riding him to help keep my balance, but I don’t think that’s worth having to angle myself around the arms. Kind of a toss-up there.

Franz

According to the developer notes in the artbook Franz was the first of the love interests to be designed, and they had a specific exotic flavor in mind that in practice feels very much like how I think Anglos see Continentals collectively. German first name and French family name aside, I get a more Iberian feeling from him personally. Maybe it’s the thing about his country being known for chocolates, or maybe the (very late in coming) self-flagellation...not literal, mind you.

Even leaving aside his real world cultural inspirations, Franz is very much the aggressive rogue type of love interest, the “perverted foreigner” as Rivian describes him more than once who introduces himself by grabbing Rivian on his balcony and practically dry humping him while dropping some foreshadowing regarding the plot. The above image is a comparatively benign moment early on in Franz’s route proper, but it goes to show just how casually grabby the guy is and how Rivian is essentially forced to get used to it. That may be unsettling for some players, but I happen to like a man assertive enough to go for what he wants - although the fact that Franz is vastly hotter and wealthier than many of the men who’ve groped me certainly plays a role there too. In any case the plot of his route - that of the murder of an ambassador in which Franz is curiously interested -  plays into the idea of him as a man of mystery gradually revealed to be driven by something other than sensual indulgence, and getting his good ending requires that Rivian learn to trust and care about Franz even as he’s not at all forthcoming about his identity or motivations up until the very end. Franz’s route is unique in that his sex scene appears before the determination of whether or not you’ll get his good ending and even before certain major revelations are made regarding his character. This suits his roguish appeal just fine, even though the scene itself is kind of...well, see below. Honestly Franz is probably my favorite of the love interests by a narrow margin; he’s rich, hot, aggressive, and shown to be very open-minded about kinks while also capable of genuinely affectionate moments. That’s a rare combination and prime wish fulfillment fodder.

The “Ow, my ass!” rating: Uncomfortably high, sad to say. Props to the guy for being suave enough to lead Rivian through a masquerade ball one minute and then drag him into a storage closet to fuck his brains out the next, but it’s a massive understatement when he assures Rivian that he won’t be gentle. Franz fucks Rivian’s mouth on a cold stone floor and then only takes the time to briefly finger him with spit before impaling the boy. You really have to be into the controlling top persona to enjoy his scene, particularly as there’s little to no (onscreen) aftercare. I was also left feeling disappointed at how conventional Franz’s sex scene felt, after he’d previously teased Rivian about wanting to collar him - he calls him “kitten” throughout their interactions - and enjoying the sight of a cross-dressing Rivian. I definitely enjoy the idea that Franz is into both pet play and feminization, but it turns out to be a case of telling and not showing. At least Franz retains most of his Dom demeanor up through his epilogue, as I would have really rolled my eyes if his kinky tendencies mysteriously vanished after he and Rivian made their big romantic confessions.

Linnaeus

I’m still not sure how I feel about Linnaeus. Part of this is that I’m missing out on the reference; developer notes make it clear that his appearance and personality were modeled after those of characters in the Ace Attorney series, which I’ve never played. I can at least acknowledge the allusion found in his narrative, which reaches its (non-sexual) climax not with a violent confrontation in a mysterious setting as in the other routes but with a courtroom trial. The Steam achievement for winning the trial is even called “Rivian Wright,” at that.

More than that however Linnaeus is a man whose appeal as a love interest exists (in my opinion) on a less visceral or emotional level than the others’. Archetypically speaking he’s the defrosting tsundere who initially seems to not like Rivian very much at all and only gradually comes to enjoy his company after they’ve been thrown together by apparent coincidence in the case of a foreign duchess’s stolen diamonds. Linnaeus is a haughty intellectual and very much a sadist both in and out of bed, but later explorations of his character add depth to his talents as the king’s inquisitor and zeal for bringing criminals - especially the members of the anarchistic Disciples of Ignatius - to justice. Throw in some friction with an estranged cousin who also wants to woo Rivian and might want Linnaeus’s job as well as some earnestly romantic gestures masked by smart-assery and in one case a literal mask and there’s definitely material here for a satisfying romance. There’s some hiccups - the trial is not difficult at all to win, and there’s an optional tarot card reading scene that adds nothing to the route but unneeded foreshadowing and feels out of place besides - but it’s by no means a bad story. Maybe Linnaeus just likes to screw with Rivian too much for my taste, or maybe I’m just not into tsundere types.

The “Ow, my ass!” rating: Of a reasonable threshold, but that doesn’t mean I really care for it. Linnaeus’s sex scene involves edging, begging, and light bondage, three things that I tend to find more annoying than sexy in my own encounters. I do like that he’s a kinky guy and that the game is more willing to show that than it is with Franz, and I also like that Linnaeus comes prepared not just with rope but with lube (finally!). This is more my personal taste than anything, as objectively there’s nothing illogical or inaccurate about their encounter. No doubt their future liaisons become even more maddening, as in the epilogue Linnaeus remarks that he has “instruments” he enjoys using on Rivian. That’s just...not my preferred type of Dom, I suppose? Additionally, for whatever it’s worth Linnaeus’s naughty bits are not visible in either of his erotic CGs due to angling and his fondness for humiliation, which is kind of a letdown.

And no, Rivian never gets to yell “Objection!” during this route. Another missed opportunity, Chess of Blades.

Sabre

Sabre is the guy on the left. The one on the right is Kieran - keep him in mind for later.

This is the secret love interest. His route branches off from Arden’s and cannot be accessed until you’ve completed Arden’s route once. There’s a good narrative reason for this, and on the surface Sabre seems like a great option for a bonus romance. He’s got tons of raw sex appeal, a unique role in the story, and a social status that separates him from Rivian and the other love interests, such that while the other three are each likened to a chess piece protecting Rivian as the king Sabre’s route is more akin to upending the board entirely. Rivian falls in love with a common brawler, ultimately opting to leave the treacherous games of the court behind him. There are two very large problems with this route though:

1) Sabre has the worst voice acting of any of the characters without question. He’s got the accent problem I brought up last time, in his case doubly so because he affects a thick Scottish brogue for his fighting persona which contrasts against his uncharacteristically refined normal voice, but whether due to the VA or the audio recording equipment his volume modulation is also highly erratic. Most of his lines are either screamed so loudly I was tempted to remove my headphones or are so quiet that they’re barely audible, especially at the end of some lines where he just trails off into near-silence. There is very little middle ground, and the combined effect is extremely distracting. It doesn’t help either that Sabre is lumped in with the supporting cast in the volume settings unlike Rivian and the other love interests whose voices can be adjusted individually, so muting him will mute everyone else.

2) Then there’s Kieran, who represents a more complicated issue with Sabre’s route. The two are introduced as close friends and sparring partners who share a healthy rivalry, and even though the romantic focus of the route remains on the developing relationship between Rivian and Sabre Kieran gets in some flirty banter of his own with Rivian and makes it clear that he wouldn’t turn down the nobleman’s admiration. Somewhat shockingly, this actually does culminate in a threesome, even though it’s staged more like the way some straight guys talk about M/M/F threesomes wherein the two men (tops in this case) have their way with the woman while having minimal interaction with each other. As someone who’s engaged in my fair share of threeways with two tops I don’t necessarily object to this arrangement, and in fact I like that it continues to play up the sense of rivalry between Sabre and Kieran. What I don’t like is that after they’ve had sex and Rivian has bid farewell to both of them the epilogue drops Kieran entirely. He’s not mentioned or referenced at all, and everything comes back to Rivian and Sabre rekindling their relationship a year later under noticeably more conventional circumstances. Perhaps a true poly relationship is beyond the capabilities of a visual novel with romance routes like this, but it would have been a welcome addition to the ending if it was mentioned that the two of them get visits from Kieran from time to time and that they’re all working it out. As it stands Kieran just feels like eye candy and a tool for Sabre’s development, which is a real shame since he’s an affable character in his own right (and more competently voiced, that’s for sure - funnily enough by Franz’s VA, using what sounds more like his natural voice).

Combined these two problems really limit how well this route lives up to its potential, but I found that I could grit my teeth through Sabre’s performance and use some creative license in the ending to get around its shortcomings. It definitely feels less well constructed than the three main routes, but as an alternative to Arden’s storyline it adds a fair bit. But then....

The “Ow, my ass!” rating: Off the charts - Rivian should be dead after this sex scene. True, they use lube and Kieran eats him out first, and spit roasting is a common and reasonable practice in a two tops/one bottom arrangement, but then there’s the double penetration. Allow me to remind you that Rivian is a virgin and has apparently never stretched his hole before this encounter, and yet somehow he’s able to take two well-endowed men simultaneously. I’m not buying it, and even worse the position he’s in - sandwiched between two hulking men twice his size as they drill into him from above and below - makes me wonder that he’s more likely to die of suffocation than rectal hemorrhaging. There’s a moment during the narrative climax where Kieran bear hugs a man almost to unconsciousness, so the writers clearly must have known it was a possibility - but nope, the delicate noble boy somehow survives taking two dicks at once while being smashed between two mountains of muscle. Oh, and did I mention that said mountains of muscle have no refractory periods? They both cum from the spit roasting, and then immediately Sabre is hard again and raring to shove his way into Rivian’s poor overtaxed hole alongside Kieran. Rivian’s inner monologue lampshades this downright inhuman stamina, but that doesn’t excuse it when you take everything else that’s off about this scene. I fully understand that this is a wildly hot fantasy for anyone into beefy guys, but more than anything else in CoB this sex scene is decidedly not something to try at home. 

In conclusion...

Arden is sweet, Franz is hot and surprisingly romantic, Sabre comes with issues (and Kieran) but is undoubtedly sexy, and Linnaeus is...something. Good selection on the whole but too bad about Rivian’s hole.

[jackdaddy-c]

Officially My Official “Langblog”

So... #AwkwardPause

I finally figured out that in order for me to directly post from my language gram to my language blog, I needed to create an entirely new account rather than create a new blog under my current account.

I feel you judging me. Stop that.

#lowkey cracking up at myself though...

“Let me reintroduce myself...”

Truthfully I don’t think I ever introduced myself on the old blog, so...I guess I should do that right?

My name is Jacqueline, I’m 30 years old (as of writing this, got a b-day coming soon,) and I’m currently teaching myself Japanese and Spanish.

I mainly created this blog because I needed a way to keep track of everything I’m learning (I take a lot of notes, study tons of stuff but I need an easier way to review.) So what better way than creating a blog and sharing everything I’ve learned thus far?

I have a nice size list of languages I want to learn. Here it is (GET READY!) There’s no particular order after the first 7:

Japanese #Studying

Spanish #Studying

French

Korean

Chinese (Cantonese)

Chinese (Mandarin)

Portguese

Italian

Vietnamese

Thai

Russian

German

German (Swedish-German)

Dutch

Tagolog

Catalon

Aafrikans

Swahili

Urdu

Arabic (a strong maybe on this one)

Yes... I know that my list is ridiculously long (I think I might actually be forgetting one) but... I have a desire to learn as many languages as I can.

And I mean, why not?

“So why are you doing this again...?”

In the two (really three) years I’ve been pursuing my goal to speak another language, this reason has changed many, many times.

“I want to have something nice to put on my resume.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a polyglot!”

“I like learning languages!”

“I love learning about other cultures.”

“...I #lowkey want to have a polyglot husband and polyglot kids.”

But ultimately, when I really thought about it, I realized that the real reason for me doing all of this was because:

I wanted to prove myself wrong.

For most of my life, I told myself CONSTANTLY what I couldn’t do. As a result there are many things I’ve passed on or opportunities I missed because I felt too incompetent or not good enough to do it.

Now that I’m 30, it’s time out for all of that. I’ve decided to go after the things I’m passionate about and interested in.

I want to show myself that I not only have the ability to learn another language, but also become fluent and gosh gee wiz--TEACH THEM if I want to.

And...I really do want to. :D

So, when I feel like quitting I think about where I started. I think about all the time I’ve put in. I consider all the things I want to do and I push onward.

“What’s to be expected with this blog?”

Currently as I mentioned earlier, I’m studying Japanese and Spanish, so you will see mostly posts around that.

Especially with my baby Japanese because... #StruggleLife

Here’s an idea of what all will you see (not limited to this, as I have a tendency to change stuff up, but just a general idea:)

Reposts: I’ll be doing everyone on here from now on, as well as reposting all my old from my now “old” blog (jssberry-la). I’m also a chronic reposter. So you will see TONS of resources and links to current languages I’m studying, languages in general, or just stuff I really like. (^_^)

Corrections: I feel I learn best when I’m able to look over my original posts, compare them with corrections I’ve gotten, then rewrite with corrections I believe are closer to what I actually wanted to say.

Translations: As a fun challenge to myself, I’ve decided to do a translation of a Japanese book I finished reading. I’m currently working on getting a translation together for another manga as well. I try to translate sentences as close as possible in both English and Spanish, as well as break down the sentences word by word. (#NOTE: I’m a beginner so my translations are VERY ROUGH. If you see ANNNNY errors in my translations, TELL ME. I want to be fluent!)

Sassy Commentary: Compared to my Wordpress (which tends to me a slight more formal) this blog is meant to be more laid-back, playful, witty (well...as witty as I can be I suppose) and a little feisty, too. #WinkWink

Rants: Because sometimes... #EpicSigh ...there are things you come across while learning another language that really get under your skin, you know? And I just need to vent about it. Plus I can’t be the only one who deals with this stuff. Like the random, “I’m trying to find me a foreign boo and you look cute enough so why don’t you come over here and teach me some things other than English” type of stuff.

As this blog grows and evolves, I hope to do lots more with it. In the meantime...

This is all ya got. #Shrug #iTried #DoingMyBestHere

I will also do my best to keep this blog as active as possible.... Lord knows I have a bad habit of falling asleep on here, then have my blogs collecting all kinds of dust before I remember how much a goldmine Tumblr is for language learning...

I can’t wait to study with all of you! #HeartsAllAround #XOXOs

#sidenote I’m not very good with coding, HTML and all that...so as far as looks go you can expect this blog to look pretty plain. However I’ll make sure that my content is fire...ish. ;D

Keep studying my friends!

[miraculousscript]

Self introduction: Knuttunk (クヌート)

Hi, this is Knuttunk (クヌート)! You can also call me Knut in short.

(I also go by mirabug55 on Tumblr, but I don’t really use this name.)

I learned about Miraculous about 2 years ago on Twitter as someone’s post of Adrien’s transformation sequence to Chat Noir landed on my timeline. It caught my attention with its smooth animation and, of course, the character’s attractive appearance and that smirky face. 😏 

At the same time, I found some people posting drawings with explanations to main characters’ complicated relationships. And I couldn’t help myself but start searching for what this series really looks like!

So I ended up watching episodes in Korean with Japanese sub. Then in English. And then French, obligatory. And German too. Finally from this July, in Japanese - my native language. Oh I enjoy this show soooo much. It’s action-scenes and the story full of unique characters are truly amazing.

As I mentioned already in this first post, the reason I started this project is that I got curious about the differences of character’s lines in Miraculous series that airs in 20+ languages. I already noticed some alterations of lines between the languages mentioned above, and I’m sure there are a lot more if we compare all versions.

Are these changes due to cultural differences? Or wordplay which are not reproduceable in another language? Or simply because of the length of the line and the length of the scene don’t match? We will see!

An important note: I’m going to work on this project whenever I’ve got time and energy for. 

Have fun and stay miraculous - that’s the policy of this project and these are the only things I expect for the members of this project, including myself. No pressure at all! 

Since I speak Japanese, English and German, these will be the versions I will be working on. 

BUT! I can’t do this alone! There are still A LOT to cover, and it’s also better to have more than one person working on a language to minimize mistakes in transcription and translation.

Do you want to contribute with your language just a little? Or help out with translation with your multilingual skills? Anyone is welcome! 

Just send a message if you are interested. If you are going to join me, that would be miraculous!

2018.08.03

Knuttunk (クヌート)

[pokechars]

[EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL] Pokemon Anime Translation Glossaries (with trivia/beta stuff)

[Veeeery long post, but believe me, it's worth it]

Alternatively, just scroll to the download links and see the thing for yourself.

So, you are probably used to the fact that this blog is strictly themed, sharing pictures of various (but always official) representations of human characters from Pokemon series, especially the lesser-known or forgotten characters from the games.

This update, however, will be a bit out-of-theme, but still strictly Pokemon-centered. Lately, we’ve had much stuff revealed about Pokemon beta versions. We learned more about Pikachu’s origins and the manga about Satoshi Tajiri revealed some previously-unknown early Pokemon designs... Because of this (added with the fact that my blog has recently hit 300 followers), I think it is good time to publish something that has been in my files for years and which you surely have never seen and which may feature some (usually minor and trivia) facts that are not widely known to Pokemon fans.

These are two Translation Glossaries that were provided to the official translators of the Pokemon anime. I got that years ago from my friend, who was among the people working on the Polish dub of Pokemon DP anime series (not really sure what year was that, but if the file metadata is right, then it must have been 2008). He asked me to be quiet about that, but years have passed, I have pretty much lost contact with that guy (I’m not even sure if he’s still into Pokemon but I believe he’s “beyond repair” like me). I also doubt that he’s still involved in making of Polish anime dubs (same goes for the studio that he cooperated with), so I think I’m not getting anyone in trouble for that anymore (but I’ll keep his identity secret, just to stay on the safe side).

As I said earlier, these glossaries were provided to the anime dubbers, but judging from their content, I believe they originally served the game localizers and then were forwarded to anime translators and amended with some anime content (which is rather incomplete, as opposed to game content).

The files may be downloaded from here: Glossary “A”: [Download Link] Glossary “B”: [Download Link]

I know that all this stuff may seem fishy to you - some random guy from Tumblr jumps off with some “insider info” all of sudden. But believe me, even I don’t have THAT much free time to fabricate such extensive and detailed files. Also, the info contained in those files is rather unspectacular compared to what you usually see in various “fake leaks”. But it’s up to you, whether you deem these real or fake. I know I’m not shitting anyone.

So, as you can see, those are two .xls files with the names of various characters and aspects of Pokemon series, divided into many sections and sheets.

The first glossary (which I named “A”, but the actual name is “Master TV Glossary”) lists all possible names from the first three generations (a couple of last sheets, likely added later, have some Gen IV stuff too) translated into the European languages that the games are available in (German, French, Spanish, Italian), as well as Dutch, Portuguese and Greek (transcribed to Latin alphabet). It generally doesn't use Japanese names, except in few cases. There is also another version of that glossary (an exact copy, just with all that multilingual stuff replaced by draft Polish translations) but since it doesn’t feature any additional interesting info, I didn’t upload that.

In this glossary, we can find a bunch of interesting things. I'll list the ones that are less-known or completely unknown to facts (the list may be incomplete, so I encourage you to seek through these files, maybe you'll find something interesting):

Not much interesting or new stuff in the "Places" section, but some of the anime-only locations (especially the Hoenn ones, listed on the very bottom) sound strange or unidentifiable.

"People" section is where it gets interesting. First of all, among the Red/Green in-game trade mons, there is a "Bob", which replaces Terry from the final game. I guess they realized their mistake that "Bob" isn't the best name for a Nidorina? Or maybe it has something to do with the Nidoran trade, where the Nidorans had switched genders compared to the Japanese version?

Just below the names of the Red/Green (English Red/Blue) trademons, we find names of what seem to be Japanese Blue in-game trade Pokemon (never available in English, as the trademons in English Red/Blue are based off Japanese Red/Green and not JP Blue) among the RGB characters. These names are as follows: Michelle, Wagster, Swanny, Fluffy, Mymo, Jimbo, Jenny, Shane and Valerie. I have been able to identify Wagster as Poliwag, Mymo as Mr. Mime and Michelle as Haunter (since the French localization of that name plays on the word cauchemar "nightmare"). The rest are up to debate. Maybe we can work them out?

Among the anime characters, we find some characters whose names were never told on-screen (such as Dick and Phillip, who had the same names in Japanese version, or Lacy, confirmed also by closed captions). Furthermore, Dr. Proctor is known as "Doc" (his Japanese name). Also, the order of listing of late-Kanto characters is unchronological (may it have something to do with the fact that some episodes were aired out of order after the Porygon incident in Japan)?

There are three Kanto anime characters, whom I can't identify - Billy, Barry and Bobby. Note that those could be Pokemon nicknames, but I have no freaking idea who are those.

Among the Gold/Silver game characters, we find two mysterious names - Kaz and Audrey. Who are those? I've no idea. I haven't found any references to them in the game data. Some cut beta characters?

Some of the GSC Trainer Classes have different names than in the final game, e.g. Guard (Officer), Thinker (Sage).

Some of the regular Trainers had their names changed to fit in the limitations of the Game Boy screen. Those changes are indicated in the file. Notable examples include Kimono Girls, whose names were shortened. Sayo was originally Sayoko, Kuni was Kunimi and Zuki was Hizuki (note that they're still different from their Japanese names).

Speaking of Kimono Girls, this file list an additional Kimono Girl named Kyoko. Could she be intended to be the Eevee user?

The RS character listing notes Mr. Stone twice - first as Mr. Stone (as he's usually called in-game) and secondly as Stanwick Stone. This is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, the name "Stanwick" was actually used in Polish dub (I remember it), although as his last name (consequently, Steven Stone was named as Steven Stanwick in Polish). Secondly, in ORAS he was known as Joseph Stone, so I guess "Stanwick" counts as scrapped material. His first name is localized to all four game languages.

The “B” glossary (PKMN DP TV Glossary) lists names from Generation IV (Diamond and Pearl), only game stuff. Unlike the first glossary, it does include Japanese names. However, it doesn't have all those international translation, just preliminary Polish translation (I believe that the other version of this glossary, with all that multilingual stuff like the first one does also exist, but my friend never sent me that [or he never had that]).

This glossary is much less extensive, but it also have some interesting trivia stuff.

Japanese name etymologies for human characters and some locations are listed, although the fields mentioning them are hidden.

In a commentary (probably left by original Japanese creators, as they're written in rather bad English), Byron is referred to as "Peter's father". I guess Peter is an English name suggested for Roark by the Japanese creators, but they didn't use it in the end.

The "Goods" sheet is when the fun begins. We have the names of the Secret Base decorations there, with the Japanese names of certain dolls seemingly revealing the beta Japanese names for those Pokemon!

Glameow Doll is リズミィドール (Rhythmie Doll)

Buneary Doll is ミミットドール (Mimitto Doll)

Magnezone Doll is デカコイルドール (Dekacoil Doll)

Drifloon Doll is フーセンドール (Fuusen Doll)

Happiny Doll is コラッキードール (Kolucky Doll)

Pachirisu Doll is パチリッスドール (Pachirissu [with a doubled "s"] Doll). Compare these Japanese names to their final versions and see that they’re different! In all other places of the glossary, all Pokemon names are just normal.

So yeah, that's all interesting stuff that I found in these two glossaries. Perhaps there's something more that I didn't notice. I hope that you enjoyed all those little trivia bits contained in them, even though they may not be that spectacular. I especially loved the fact that JP Blue trademons did get English nicknames. I can only assure you that I really got those from my friend and never edited or changed anything in them. But I'm not really sure how can I prove that, you basically have to believe my words. And I hope that you do.

Uh... that's a long entry. I hope you don't regret reading it. Please reblog and spread the word about these glossaries. They are really valuable material, especially to those who collect little-known Pokemon trivia facts, so I hope this entry gets popular. That's it for now. I don't plan more of such unusual updates (unless I find something worth it) and now we'll be back to our usual updates, with Pokemon character pictures.

[epochxp]

Aerial Wargaming Part 3, The Miniatures!

Maidstone Wargames Society 

I didn’t think I was going to do a part 3 to this series. But here we are. For those wishing to game out aerial wargaming in miniature, you have a bit to choose from. I won’t be doing the larger scales (1/100 and larger) because, at that point, you’re building models. 

In the smaller scales, they have a lot going for them. First off, you can put a lot on the table, especially at 1/600, but even at 1/300.  Look at this combat box of B-17s, right?

There’s a lot out there, and I hope we can scratch the surface and show you some things to get you interested in one of the fun aspects of the hobby!

1/600

1/600 scale B-24 and FW-190 | Tumbling Dice website 

There are two main manufacturers of 1/600 scale aircraft, Tumbling Dice, who has been producing models for years, to very high quality, and affordable at that. I really like their discounted sets that allow you to cheaply build both sides of a given engagement. The discount packs cover everything, from WW I Barrage Balloons to aircraft for the Falklands and the Gulf War. If you want to simulate a conflict, they have the means to do so. And at $20.00 a pack (not including shipping) for anywhere between 32 to 48 aircraft, it’s not a bad deal. Postage isn’t too bad, being a flat rate of $5.56, plus 10% of the order value. You can also order the aircraft individually, at 4 to 6 aircraft a pack. Again, you get a lot for a little, and the sculpting quality is top-notch. There are even $20.00 Squadron packs for B-17s, B-24s, Lancasters, and B-29s, 18 for everything except the B-29s, where it’s only nine aircraft a pack, but for those bomber swarms of World War II? It’s not a bad deal either. They also have rules and flight bases for sale as well. All in all, not too shabby. And, their naval and land ranges make nice target markers for games as well.

Another entry into the 1/600 field is Pico Armor, whose detail is downright incredible. A bunch of us have been marveling at it for the armor, but the aircraft is nice as well. Here’s a side-by-side of two F-4s from Tumbling Dice and Pico Armor.

The Pico Armor (right) and the Tumbling Dice (left) |  SexTwentyEight Blog 

I can recommend the review of both lines at the sixtwentyeight blog, and Pico’s offerings are superior to the long-standing offerings of Tumbling Dice. 

French Nieuport 17 by Pico Armor | Pico Armor Site 

Pico’s sculpts are clean, and you get six to eight aircraft in a pack for $4.25, and Pico Armor is the importer for the Oddzial Osmy (08) line of miniatures sculpted in Poland. I must say, having ordered some of their 15mm line, I was impressed with the quality of the figures if a bit concerned about the hardness of the metal. It does make working with the figures a touch difficult, but as you can see, not overly so.

Decals are a bit tough to come by in this scale, sadly. Dom’s Decals, who were the go-to for 1/600, has gone away. The best plan going forward is Flight Deck Decals, which has more than a few choices in 1/600 scale for you to choose from! (They also do 1/300)

1/285 and 1/300

1/300 B-24 painted up for the Ploesti Raid, model by Raiden/I-94 Enterprises | A Gamer’s Tales Blog 

There’s a lot to offer in 1/285-1/300 scale aircraft in both plastic and metal. We’ll just be calling it 1/300 collectively for now, and we won’t be hitting EVERYTHING, but I want to, at the very least, cover the big producers and some interesting places to look as well.

First up, we have I-94 Enterprises. They bought the Raiden line of aircraft miniatures and are redoing the molds. And may I say, as someone who owns a lot of their aircraft, I am impressed with the quality of the sculpts. 

Some early war USN SBDs and Wildcats by Raiden Miniatures. | Chris Geisert

Raiden’s line covers both World War II and modern conflicts. Sorry, no World War I, but I-94 has the old Goblintooth line, which does cover World War I. I can’t speak for those planes, but the rest of the line is just stunning in the quality of the aircraft. Planes typically run $3.00 each, and you can get Battle Sets for Check Your Six for around $100, which is a bit pricy sounding but consider you get 20 or so aircraft, flight stands, and decals. Not a bad deal if you ask me. I-94 also does a nice line of decals of which I can attest to, as I am a repeat customer. 

The next entry into the 1/300 field is MSD Games. 

B-10 Martin bomber | MSD Games

MSD has been around for a while and markets their aircraft line under the “Luftwaffe 1946” label, which in addition to historical aircraft, you can find all the Wunderwaffen that never left German or Japanese drawing boards towards the end of the war and do some nice “what-if games.” They even have a set of rules to cover it, as well as various historical periods for World War I and World War II. 

I have more than a few MSD models, and they run about the same price as Raiden, or $3.00 for most planes, with exceptions for larger aircraft. The sculpting is a bit less crisp than Raiden, but you can get two aircraft in one pack. Even if they aren’t any cheaper, you do have to remember to buy fewer packs. And, they have some of the lesser-known World War II air forces covered better, such as France and the Netherlands.

The store has its own decal line, called Blue Sky Decals, which I haven’t tried yet, but I will at some point, and probably what may be one of the largest remaining stock of Dom’s Decals to be found. Be advised; it’s not much. 

Another line to be found in the UK is Scotia/Grendel’s Collectair Line. 

FW-200 Condor, Model by Scotia Grendel | DakkaDakka Forum

Scotia-Grendel is a massive line. It covers, well, everything. And it’s widely available here in the US (through I-94) and the UK, with costs comparable to Raiden and MSD. I have only seen the aircraft in pictures, but the sculpting is comparable to MSD. I can’t say too much more about it than that as I don’t own any myself.

Another option, though limited, is plastic. Trumpeter has a line of 1/350 scale aircraft carriers and, well, makes packs of planes to go with them. 

F/A-18 Hornet kit from Trumpeter | HobbyLinc 

I happen to have a pack of A-6s and A-7s and two assembled SU-27s. I’m eager to get more, but the darn things are rarer than hen’s teeth, even if they are only $9.99 for six aircraft, which makes them a really cheap option for anyone’s air force. 

Finally, there’s 3-D Printing. A fellow by the name of Captain Ahab gives out a number of STL files for a number of aircraft in 6mm at Wargaming 3D. They’re sized in 15mm, but you can easily resize them with most slicing programs. I haven’t printed any out yet, but I think the models would look great in resin! What makes it great is you get planes like the PBY-4 Privateer, or the SB2C Helldiver, neither of which is a very easy-to-find aircraft in 1/300! 

F-100 Super Saber | Wargaming 3D

I didn’t get to all the models today, but I got to more than a few. The main thing is to see this as a starting point. If you want to do the miniatures end of air wargaming, these are the places to begin. A little more research can find even more aircraft, but they might be pricier as they weren’t intended to be much more to denote airstrikes for a micro-armor game. That said, they still might surprise you, especially if you’re looking for helicopters.

As always, Good gaming, everyone!

--

At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.

--

(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

[john-is-on-the-rails]

Being more pirate in Bruxelles

My time in Brussels is over. I crammed a lot into two and a half days, so I’m enjoying the first class ICE inter-city experience (currently at 157km/h). Especially after sitting in the rain at Brussels-Noord station for an hour. I’ve bagged a window seat, loads of leg room, free Wi-Fi (auto-correct tried to change that to wife) and a charging point. It’s interesting how reliant we are on our phones now, making us wonder how people got about without them. I’ve heard the argument that part of the traveling experience is getting lost, asking a local who doesn’t speak English, finding your way by reading an annoying folded map upside down. I’m not entirely convinced. The amount of stress and time saved by having maps to anywhere at my fingertips, entertainment (music, podcasts, audiobooks), a camera and video recorder, GPS tracker of my journey and handy torch when my hotel room card suddenly stopped working and the lights went out, makes me feel more relaxed and reassured. Maybe at the cost of the isolation and expansiveness you feel when you’re navigating by your wit alone. Perhaps the reassurance provided by a digital connection is more appreciated if you are traveling alone. When getting lost on your way back to your hotel is less fun and more intimidating in a busy city. At least with someone else there, when you panic they might not!

Brussels was an interesting city. I stayed just off Grand Place in the city centre. Grand place is, as the name suggests, a grand square. Surrounded on all sides by beautiful gothic-style edifices. The town hall, guildhalls and the King’s House (which now houses the museum of Brussels). I couldn’t really grasp the scale or the level of craftmanship no matter how many times I walked through it. It was quite a lot to take in, especially with elderly Chinese ladies trying their best to skewer me with their selfie sticks. The French got so annoyed with it they blew Grand Place, and much of Brussels, up with cannons and mortars during the siege of 1695, no selfie sticks survived. In modern times, power has shifted away from this impressive monument to trade and across town to the Euro Quarter.

I have a theory. I often get mistaken for a local. I used to think it was my Mediterranean looks, round specs, beard and because I tan quite easily. I’m now starting to think it’s because my default facial expression is mildly pissed off. This isn’t intentional, but my thinking and concentrating faces resemble my annoyed face pretty much exactly. I think a lot when I’m walking around, and when I’m sat down to be honest, probably about whether my hat looks silly or what to have for dinner. I am also aware that tourists are annoying if you live locally. I experienced this first hand in the centre of Chester when I just wanted to get some milk and I had to push my way through crowds of Japanese and American tourists at Tesco. I forget I am a tourist when I go somewhere, so I get annoyed at all the other tourists who dared to want to go to the same place as me. (Ooo phone has just switched to Telekom.de, wish I’d kept track off all the mobile networks my phone has roamed too, just for posterity – just left Aachen soon to arrive at Cologne for my train change to Berlin HBF). My working theory is that my slight frown, plus my physical appearance equally contribute to my local-lookingness. I got asked directions a lot the last few days. There is probably a very nice German couple still wandering around the park I sent them through to get to the city centre (I checked google maps so I hope I advised them correctly). I do hope they aren’t living off berries in Parc Brussels.

Just got on my connection from Cologne station. 

One final thought. I’ve just been listening to the latest ‘Reasons to be cheerful’ podcast with Ed Milliband and Geoff Lloyd. I recommend it if you have any interest in a) politics b)sticking it to the man c)pirates. They had the author of “Be more pirate: how to take on the world and win” on to talk about his book. It sounds fascinating and is at the top of my reading list when its released on 3rd May. The general concept is that anyone interested in changing the status quo should ‘be more pirate’. This doesn’t mean stealing a boat and sailing off to Barbados to relieve the Spanish of their gold, although that’s a pretty good metaphor for what it does mean.

The author has re-imagined the story of the pirates through a contemporary lens. He compares their act of rebellion against the state to the crisis of purpose felt by many young people today, and argues that breaking rules is the most effective way to progress as a society. Simply by knowing that history is written by the victors should give you pause to re-evaluate the traditional image of the cutthroat pirate pillaging and destroying without thought. There was an amount of pillaging and destroying, but taken in the context of the time this isn’t particularly shocking, re: the British Empire. The pirates were a marginalized group, pushed out of England and Wales (Bristol channel mainly), by a combination of redundancy due to technological advancement and a confusing international situation pushing them into conflicts the causes of which they did not understand or feel invested in. I won’t go into too much detail because you should listen to it yourself: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/h2br8-5b88c/Reasons-to-be-Cheerful-with-Ed-Miliband-and-Geoff-Lloyd-Podcast

But here is a short list of initiatives brought about by the pirate community which would take hundreds of years to be replicated in the UK:

· Dual governance (not seen in the UK until the two-chamber system in parliament) – The pirates realized that power could corrupt a single person. They gave an equal level of power to the captain (in charge of strategy) & the quartermaster (in charge of culture and cohesion on a ship).

· Pay transparency – before each voyage the crew knew what share of any bounty they would receive by shares of the total.

· Gay marriage – Think how recently that has become legal in the UK. Some pirate voyages could take months, even years e.g. Drake. It was realized that close bonds would form between, the predominately male, crews. These relationships were recognized and made formal in Matelotage, a form of civil partnership.

· Although the crews were predominately male, this was certainly not exclusively the case. Just google Ann Bonny and read some of her exploits. Race, age, gender were not seen as a boundary for the pirates. It was a true meritocracy!

· The first truly global branded image – The iconic skull and crossbones is widely acknowledged as the first globally recognised brand, and still endures to this day.

· Workplace compensation. Pirate crews were insured. Lose a leg – 600 pieces of 8. This worker’s right did not get enshrined in UK for hundreds of years.

A brief summary of a truly fascinating story. After the pirate age, the co-op movement sprung up from the very same towns and villages that many of the pirates had originated from, and returned to. And guess what the founding tenets of the co-operative movement mirror, that’s right, the pirate code.

[ebaeschnbliah]

MISTER  KINGSLEY

________________________________________________________________

Some time ago I wrote about the short cases Sherlock investigates at the beginning of TST (Spinning the plates). As it turned out each case seems to be closely connected to Sherlock himself in one way or another. It appears to be the same with characters who have a tattoo. Even as unlikely ones as the torturer in Serbia (TEH) or the unconscious ex-con in CAMs office (HLV)

In TST a man comes to Baker Street and seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes. His wife left him and he assumes she was having an affair. Sherlock doesn't take that case but throwes the man out instead. This case might have been too boring for Sherlock but the man - Mr. Kingsley - is quite interesting. He has an almost faded tattoo on his forearm. Reason enough to take a closer look at this guy. Could he be a Sherlock mirror as well?

More under the cut .....

His name is KINGSLEY

Which  includes the word KING. While Mycroft is compared to the 'queen' in ASIB, Sherlock is more than once connected to the 'king'.

'Am I the current king of England?' asks Sherlock in TSOT.

Elvis is called the 'King' as well and in THOB his face overlays Sherlock's while the first accords of 'Hound Dog' can be heard.

In TLD Elvis is mentioned again as a person who can be recognized by one name alone ... like Sherlock.

Now, you haven’t always been in life insurance, have you?

This is the very first information about Mr. Kingsley. He works in 'life insurance' .... is it too far a stretch connecting 'life insurance' to a form of protection ... of guarding? Sherlock himself (and some of his mirrors) are several times presented as 'guardians'.

You started out in manual labour. Oh, don’t bother being astonished. Your right hand’s almost an entire size bigger than your left. (“10½” over the right hand and “9½” over the other.) Hard manual work does that.

KINGSLEY: I was a carpenter, uh, like me dad.

A carpenter who is the son of a carpenter?. Is this another Christ reference? Wouldn't be the first time Sherlock is associated with Christ in this story.

In the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" (e.g., Mark 10:47). Jesus' neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as "the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon" (Mark 6:3), "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55), or "Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22).

And you’re trying to give up smoking, unsuccessfully,

SHERLOCK: Not just e-cigarettes – ten individual e-cigarettes. Now, if you just wanted to smoke indoors, you would have invested in one of those irritating electronic pipe things, but you’re convinced you can give up, so you don’t want to buy a pipe because that means you’re not serious about quitting, so instead you buy individual cigarettes, always sure that each will be your last.

This speaks for itself, I think. :))))

You once had a Japanese girlfriend that meant a lot to you

But now you feel indifferent about. You’ve got a Japanese tattoo in the crook of your elbow in the name ‘Akako.’ It’s obvious you’ve tried to have it removed. KINGSLEY: But surely that means I wanna forget her, not that I’m indifferent. SHERLOCK: If she’d really hurt your feelings, you would have had the word obliterated, but the first attempt wasn’t successful and you haven’t tried again, so it seems you can live with the slightly blurred memory of Akako, hence the indifference.

This topic - the 'broken off realationships' of various kinds (parents, friends, lovers) - runs throughout the whole story. Stillborn children, orphans, lost siblings, children, friends, a dog  and romances ending before they even had a chance to properly begin.

And of course the connection to Japan is another reference to the East, the Eastwind, Eurus and memory.

KINGSLEY: Sorry. I-I thought you’d done something clever. No, no. Ah, but now you’ve explained it, it’s dead simple, innit?

The whole deduction scene up unto this point is taken - with little changes - from ACDs Story  'The Red-Headed League'. In the original the client's name is Mr. Jabez Wilson. He is a former ship's carapenter who had once travelled to China. Holmes deduces this by a very distinctive fish tattoo on his arm and a coin on the watch chain. Mr. Wilson comes to Baker Street because the company he worked for suddenly 'vanished' without a trace. Turns out the whole organisation was a fake from the start. It's existance had been only created to lure Mr. Wilson away from his house for several hours per day to dig a secret tunnel to a nearby bank ... and the considerable fortune of French gold in its vaults.

The meaning of names

An interesting thing to notice is, that the name chosen for the lady in pink in ASIP is ... Jennifer Wilson. The name Wilson is also related to 'William', which is Sherlock's first name in this story.

William comes ultimately from the given name Wilhelm (cf. Old German Wilhelm and Old Norse Vilhjálmr). That is a compound of two distinct elements :

wil = "will or desire";

helm = Old English helm "helmet, protection"

Protector of desires - what a fitting name for Sherlock in this special adaptation!

Original Sherlock Holmes reacts to Mr. Wilson's rather simplifying interpretation, regarding the explanation of the deductions, quite different.

“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a mistake in explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico,’ you know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid."

Omne ignotum pro magnifico .... 'every unknown thing is taken for great'

Or 'everything becomes commonplace by explanation' that's how Dr.Watson translates this statement in the lovely Granada adaptation of the 'Red-Headed League' with Jeremy Brett and David Burke (here).

Back to Sherlock and Mr. Kingsley

Highly indignant and offended by Mr. Kingsley's dismissive reaction to his explanations, Sherlock launches from nil to a hundred into a real torrent of deductions about poor Mr. Kingsley, who listens dumbfounded.

I’ve withheld this information from you until now ...

... but I think it’s time you knew the truth. Have you ever wondered if your wife was a little bit out of your league? You thought she was having an affair. I’m afraid it’s far worse than that. Your wife is a spy. Her real name is Greta Bengtsdotter. Swedish by birth and probably the most dangerous spy in the world.

WATSON: You’re working for Mycroft? MRS WATSON: He likes to keep an eye on his mad sibling. HOLMES: And he had a spy to hand.  Has it never occurred to you that your wife is excessively skilled for a nurse?

A 'super-agent' with a terrifying skill set? Oh, Mary I hear your tapping.

She’s been operating deep undercover for the past four years now as your wife for one reason only: to get near the American embassy which is across the road from your flat.

And once again the mention of an embasy - an ambassador. First Rufus Bruhl the US ambassador and his children Max and Claudette. Then the ambassador in Tiblisi who knew the truth about AMO. Three ambassadors in one story? A bit much for just coincidence, I think.

Tomorrow the US president will be at the embassy as part of an official state visit. As the president greets members of staff, Greta Bengtsdotter, disguised as a twenty-two stone cleaner, will inject the president in the back of the neck with a dangerous new drug hidden inside a secret compartment inside her padded armpit.

Like poor John in TEH? Before he got dumped under the bonfire woodpile? Is John the president?

This drug will then render the president entirely susceptible to the will of their new master, none other than James Moriarty.

Ahhhh .... another dangerous drug.  H.O.U.N.D. is for creating fear. TD12 is to create the bliss of ignorance. And now something to gain full domination over someone else. Fear - loss of memory - loss of power .... how frightening.

Moriarty will then use the president as a pawn to destabilise the United Nations General Assembly which is due to vote on a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, tipping the balance in favour of a first strike policy against Russia. This chain of events will then prove unstoppable, thus precipitating ... World War Three.

This sounds a lot like  '... Nuclear codes – I could blow up NATO in alphabetical order. In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king; and honey, you should see me in a crown.'    Jim Moriarty ... ruler of the whole world!

JOHN: Are you serious?  SHERLOCK: No, of course not.

'... his wife left him because his breath stinks and he likes to wear her lingerie.'

KINGSLEY: I don’t! Just the bras.

Really? Cross dressing like unle Rudi? Like Mycroft as Lady Bracknell? Oh, what a coincidence!  Sometimes the universe seems to be rather lazy.   :)))))

'his breath stinks' ... the simplest translation would be 'not liking what comes out of someones mouth'  and I guess there are a lot of people who are convinced this applies perfectly to some of Sherlock's deductions.

SEBASTIAN: He could look at you and tell you your whole life story. Put the wind up everybody. We hated him.

Assuming Mr. Kingsley is indeed a mirror for Sherlock - created in his own mind - how heartbreakingly sad is this last deduction! Sherlock imagining a life partner who leaves him because of what comes out of his mouth ... and because of what he likes.

JOHN: So. What’s this all about, then? SHERLOCK: Having fun. ..... While I can.

In a nutshell ... Sherlock is annoyed and wants to have fun while he still can and because of that he invents an impromptu story - far-fetched and dramatically charged - about a most dangerous 'super agent' employed by a criminal mastermind to gain world domination.  Sounds familiar ....

Are these kind of stories the ones Sherlock loves most?

Stories about undercover agents, secret spies, super agents ... like Mr. 'double-0-seven' James Bond? Then he would propably get along very well with another character in this story. A little boy ... with a mop of unruly, curly, dark hair. For he seems to have quite similar interests as Sherlock .... and he is a clever boy as well .... Max Bruhl.

SHERLOCK: What would he do in the precious few seconds before they came into the room? How would he use them if not to cry out? This little boy; this particular little boy ... who reads all of those spy books. What would he do? JOHN: He’d leave a sign?

The ambassadors son .... Max Bruhl .... abducted and poisoned and left to die together with his sister Claudette.

This reminds me very much of Sherlock - who gets abducted and drugged as well ..... or poisoned?

September, 2017

I leave you too your own deductions  Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.

@gosherlocked @loveismyrevolution @sagestreet @sherlockshadow @monikakrasnorada @kateis-cakeis @sarahthecoat @raggedyblue @darlingtonsubstitution @tjlcisthenewsexy

[ulfwolf]

Wolfku Garden

Wolfku, noun; a short, as a rule seventeen-syllable, poem that is part epiphany, part aphorism, and part haiku; derivation: Ulf Wolf Haiku

Garden, noun; a plot of ground where flowers and other cultivated plants grow, including the soil, the conditions, and the care taken to grow them; derivation: from Old French gardin, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German gart, enclosure

Introduction

Some years back, I grew very interested haiku. Initially, because these short gems struck me as the perfect match for Twitter—a marriage made in digital heaven, as it were. Besides, how hard could it be to write a seventeen-syllable poem.

As I normally do when my interest alights on something, I read several books on the subject (that this time included Higginson and Harter’s wonderful The Haiku Handbook) and from there proceeded to immerse myself in several well-known haiku masters, such as Bashō, Buson, Issa, Shiki, et al.

Meanwhile, I began trying my hand at these things, initially strictly adhering to the five-seven-five syllable format, which, I soon came to find out (from online self-proclaimed haiku gurus), was quite a crude adaptation of that principle seeing that Japanese syllables do not necessarily correspond to English syllables (which are, by expert reckoning, quite unwieldy by comparison). Also, reading a lot of (published and respected) English language haiku I soon realized that both the five-seven-five and the seventeen-syllable “rules” had long since been abandoned by the better haiku poets.

As a result of seeing things in this particular light, I soon began taking liberties with the five-seven-five rule but for some odd reason the seventeen-English-syllable statute remained on the books, refused to leave, had found a home in me—if for no other reason than that my little haikus (which I soon named Wolfkus for an obvious reason) seemed to percolate to the surface fully grown and just about always in a string of seventeen-syllable creations. And when they did not, say they surfaced as an eighteen-syllable Wolfku, or a sixteen-syllable one, well, then I discovered that when I sand-papered the longer one into seventeen, or inflated the shorter one into seventeen: the meaning seemed clearer, more definite—besides, this was a fun exercise (I love language and its many words and their bendable uses).

Struck by something, an image, a feeling, a thought, before long this seventeen-syllable raft came bopping to the surface (having been let go of by some curious and creative, though shy, deep-sea Wolfku deity). During a morning’s walk by the Pacific, three or four or sometimes five of these Wolfkus might surface, and it was all I could do to remember them all until I returned home to a pen or a keyboard.

Sometimes I did forget them, memory like a sieve these days.

Before not so long, many of these Wolfkus arrived more as aphorisms than true haikus, as little containers of distilled perhaps philosophical reflection. Well, since many of them struck me (the creator, or recipient might be a better word) as both unique and insightful, who was I to call a halt to this quite enjoyable, if curious, phenomenon.

A phenomenon that still flourishes and seems to have no intention to do otherwise, for I rarely return from an hour’s walk without some seventeen-syllable epigram or other.

Seeing, though, that the earth from which these Wolfkus sprung (and still spring)—the Wolfku Garden where they grew—was replete with impressions and sometimes micro-epiphanies, I thought that perhaps it was time to revisit these Wolfkus and examine this fertile soil for what else it might hold. What, indeed, gave birth to them, what carried them from darkness to light? And where did they, in turn, carry me? This is what gave birth to the idea of a Wolfku Garden—a collection of Wolfkus and their underlying musings.

Here is the result.

A wide-open gate  hinges rusted brown with years  Who left it open?

Gates, as a rule, are closed—or they are in the process of being opened to then be closed, or in the process of being closed—especially those set in fences that stretch across open fields; we don’t want the animals (sheep, cows, lions) escaping now, do we? I can remember catching minor little hells from our farmer-neighbor for leaving a gate or two open—a habit I soon grew out of as a result of the brimstone. Always close gates behind you, it became first the mantra then the law.

And has no one noticed this open gate before now? I try to shut it, but the hinges are more rust than iron and will not yield even a fraction.

Several scenarios scuffle for recognition, me, me, me: some running children, laughing, chasing, flinging the gate open, rushing through, intent on where they are going not where they have been. But wouldn’t someone have noticed this gate left open and closed it?

Some animals are very smart; perhaps some Nobel-prize-caliber donkey figured out how to open the gate and so made his escape, never to be seen or heard from again. Still, why did no one notice?

Or, someone did close the gate, but carelessly. The wind, or some other donkey, did the rest. Still, why did no one notice?

Or, or, or.

And wide open. That’s not the wind’s, or chance’s doing. It stands so deliberately open, cannot stand more open. It’s an intentional act, then. A long, long ago intentional act. Perhaps the final act of the farmer closing things down and heading for the city—too far in debt to rely on his not at all profitable farm to dig him out; a pity, it’s been in the family so long. So, to hell with it then, I’ll do exactly what I’ve never done before, leave the gate wide open. Goodbye three hundred sixty-five (some years sixty-six) pre-dawn mornings a year, goodbye a worry about the weather so constant it felt like an ulcer. Goodbye and good riddance.

Or it is a magical gate who knows how to open and close itself that one day, just after opening wide plumb forgot how to close.

Or, or, or.

(c) Wolfstuff

http://wolfstuff.com/musing

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.

[jonathanbogart]

Tubulaire: French Socialist Pop and New Wave

I went and did it again. Twenty-one songs, 1981-1987, from France and nearby Francophone territories. Here it is as a YouTube playlist. No Spotify playlist -- again, too many gaps -- but you can figure it out. Tracklisting below, “liner notes” below the cut.

Étienne Daho, “Week-end à Rome”

Les Calamités, “Toutes les nuits”

Jo Lemaire + Flouze, “Je suis venue te dire que je m’en vais”

Taxi Girl, “Paris”

Indochine, “Kao Bang”

Mikado, “Naufrage en hiver”

2 Belgen, “Quand le film est triste”

Mader, “Disparue”

Dougherty, “Moi je doute”

Sapho, “Train de Paris”

Stephan Eicher, “Les filles du Limmatquai”

Baroque Bordello, “L’autre”

Les Rita Mitsouko, “Marcia Baïla”

Marc Seberg, “L’éclaircie”

Lio, “Mona Lisa”

Axel Bauer, “Cargo”

Buzy, “Dyslexique”

Chagrin D’amour, “Monte-Carlo”

TC Matic, “Elle adore le noir pour sortir le soir”

Mylène Farmer, “Libertine”

Carte de Séjour, “Ramsa”

Tubulaire: french socialist pop and new wave

Trying to pattern this mix off the Spanish and Portuguese one I did last year, I found myself running afoul of the many ways in which the French scene was very different from the Spanish and Portuguese — and also from the British, which I know better. French popular music has been a continuum running from the era of the music hall to the present: rock, like jazz before it, was taken on board as an amusing novelty, but it did not transform the cultural landscape to the extent it did in the US and UK. Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal, controlled by fascists at midcentury, largely ignored the initial rock waves; for them, the real cultural transformation didn’t happen until democratization, and punk. France also absorbed punk as an amusing novelty, but the top level of pop did not change: chanson, varieté, and melancholic singer-songwriters saw their production shift with the times, but the attitudes did not: in France, teenage dreams were always openly conjured by dirty old men.

Speaking of which, there is one Serge Gainsbourg song here, but not sung by Gainsbourg or a member of his family; I have mostly avoided the canonical (in English-language circles) sixties French pop singers: France Gall, François Hardy, Jacques Dutronc, and Johnny Hallyday were all still making more or less relevant music in the 1980s, but in order to make a coherent mix, I was primarily interested in the younger generation, those energized by punk and disco (and their offspring, new wave and synthpop).

In the 1980s, France was led by its first Socialist President, the long-serving François Mitterrand, providing a sort of left-wing European bulwark against the devouring conservatism of Reagan’s America and Thatcher’s Britain. (From a strict left-wing view, Mitterrand was more of a centrist, defanging the Communists and dithering about nationalization of services; but in global terms, his socialism was remarkable.) Because France is a democracy, that of course doesn’t mean the entire nation was socialist, any more than everyone in the UK was a Tory, but socialist and left-wing ideals were more deeply entrenched in France than almost anywhere else in Western Europe.

Which itself doesn’t necessarily say anything about popular music, always a capitalist endeavor. Despite the famous, and famously evanescent, wealth of some high-profile laborers in music, those who own the means of production remain those who really profit from that labor. So there’s inevitably a tension between my declared subtitle for this mix and what’s really in it: a heterogenous grab-bag of ideology, mostly (like pop everywhere) about romantic love.

One other major difference to my Spanish/Portuguese mix: minority languages have been officially discouraged in France since the Revolution, and even the baby steps taken in the last few decades toward acknowledging Occitan, etc., are nothing compared to the autonomy of Catalan, Basque, and other Spanish minority languages. Which is to say: with one exception, everything in this mix is in standard French (with the occasional phrase in English or another language thrown in as the song requires). The bulk of it was made in France itself, with four songs from Belgium and one from Switzerland.

Finally, many of songs here were released in 1984. Which is a direct result of one of the reasons I started diving back into 1980s European pop music: my friend Michaelangelo Matos is working on a book about the US music industry in 1984, and as always I started thinking about expanding parameters.

I’m certainly no expert in French pop, mainstream or underground, of the period. This is what has struck me as beautiful and fun and maybe even soul-nourishing after rooting around in streaming services and online discographies and filesharing programs for a few weeks, plus some stuff I already knew and loved. I hope you like (at least some of) it too.

Oh, the title. “Tube” is French slang for a hit record, and I thought it would be slightly amusing to mix that up with period SoCal slang.

1. Étienne Daho Week-end à Rome Virgin | Paris, 1984

Perhaps better known to British pop fans as Saint Etienne’s “He’s on the Phone” (the band was named after Daho, the most sublime aesthetician in French pop), this gorgeous synthpop reverie of no-strings travel and romance in the 80s sounds doubly nostalgic these days, as the dream of a united Europe falters. The woman’s voice pronouncing Italian quite poorly on the bridge belongs to Belgian pop star Lio; she also appears in the video.

2. Les Calamités Toutes les nuits New Rose Records | Paris, 1984

Sometimes called “the French Go-Gos,” the all-girl Calamités were rather less polished than the L.A. band, I think to their advantage. This urgent power-pop (perhaps even pop-punk) song takes as a theme that universal complaint about having to share a bed with a sleepwalker who goes out on the rooftops every night; its rush and clatter mirrors the heart-pounding fear of falling in the lyrics.

3. Jo Lemaire + Flouze Je suis venue te dire que je m'en vais Vertigo | Brussels, 1981

Originally written and sung by Serge Gainsbourg on his 1973 concept album Vu de l’extérieur, this spare cover by Belgian synthpop pioneers Flouze was their biggest hit and one of their few songs in French. (Most pop acts in the multilingual Low Countries sing in English to widen their potential audience.) Lemaire, the voice of the band, would go solo for most of the 80s, and has a catalog worth digging into.

4. Taxi Girl Paris Virgin | Paris, 1984

One of the foundational Parisian synth-punk bands circa 1980, Taxi Girl’s lifespan was drawing to a natural close by 1984, when this thrumming, evocative ode to/sneer at their hometown became one of their biggest hits. The casual, slangy lyrics are entirely spoken by singer Viviane Vog (Daniel Darc), slowly building to a punchline in which he spells Paris in an unusual way. And the descending guitar riff pulses on into the night.

5. Indochine Kao Bang Clemence Melody | Paris, 1983

We now encounter the somewhat cringey orientalisme that was de rigeur for the pop scene of every twentieth-century imperial power in the early 80s as the Eastern markets boomed. Indochine are usually thumbnailed as the French Cure, but “Kao Bang” is dancier and sweeter than Robert Smith would be for years yet. The lyrics are dodgy orientalist heroic fantasy, but possibly feminist too?

6. Mikado Naufrage en hiver Vogue | Paris, 1985

Named for a brand of pick-up sticks rather than the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Mikado were a French orientalist band that actually interacted with Pacific Rim culture: Yellow Magic Orchestra founder and video-game composer Haruomi Hosono produced this single, written by singer Pascale Borel, whose breathy soprano is in both French and Japanese pop traditions.

7. 2 Belgen Quand le film est triste Antler | Brussels, 1982

Not a cover of the 1962 Sylvie Vartan hit, but a herky-jerky new wave interrogation of it, after the deconstructive manner of Devo or the Residents. The debut single of Belgian duo 2 Belgen (or “two Belgians”), it’s rather more instrumentally eccentric than the music that would win them later popularity, but as a spiky, springy introduction, it’s fantastic.

8. Mader Disparue Flarenasch | Paris, 1984

A pop chancer who became famous for unabashedly cheesy dance-pop using Latin rhythms, Jean-Pierre Mader is perhaps the clearest representative of the music hall-derived “varieté” tradition in this mix. Here, a tango bandoneon swirls against a squelchy four-on-the-floor beat as Mader warbles about a lover who has disappeared: it’s Gallo-Latin music at its most stereotypical, and it always brings a smile to my face.

9. Dougherty Moi je doute Réflexes | Toulouse, 1984

There have historically been very few regional pop scenes in France — at least not the way there were in the UK — thanks to the culture of centralization enforced by the state and media. One exception was the Toulouse scene (’82-’86) based around Studio Deltour, featuring retro garage-rock sounds that echoed into the early 2000s: this, from quiffed rocker Gilles Dougherty, is the Raveonettes undreamt.

10. Sapho Train de Paris Celluloid | Paris, 1984

The Morocco-born Danielle Ebguy named herself after the Greek poet as a member of the 70s Parisian punk scene, spent time in New York in the early 80s, and really found her sound in the mid-80s, when she blended industrial beats with pan-Mediterranean melodies and let her strong, witchy voice give it all authority. “Train de Paris” picks up where Grace Jones’ “Warm Leatherette” left off.

11. Stephan Eicher Les filles du Limmatquai Off Course | Zurich, 1983

The guiding force behind the influential Neue Deutsche Welle cold synth band Grauzone, the Swiss Eicher’s solo career would be carried out in German, French and English with equal facility. This folk-melody rave about girls shopping on a fashionable Zurich boulevard splits the difference between his early austere work and the melodic chanson which would give him hits later in the decade.

12. Baroque Bordello L’autre Garage | Paris, 1984

I haven’t included much representation from the so-called coldwave (icy synthpop in post-punk monochrome) scene which has taken up much of the retrospective space for the French 80s in the Anglosphere, because much of it was sung in English, and I’m snobby enough to prefer first languages. But this lovely bit of psychological alienation, in singer Weena’s whispery soprano, deserves to be remembered.

13. Les Rita Mitsouko Marcia Baïla Virgin | Paris, 1984

Undoubtedly the outstanding French rock act of the decade, Les Rita Mitsouko might be familiar to English-language music fans for being frequently namechecked by Kurt Cobain. Their neo-primitivist pound-and-yowl cabaret was deeply influential on the “alternative” 90s, but this early marionette-funk song commemorating singer Catherine Ringer’s late dance teacher Marcia Moretto remains a career highlight.

14. Marc Seberg L’éclaircie Virgin | Longueville, 1984

The band Marquis de Sade was a foundational coldwave act, but after they broke up in 1981, founder Philippe Pascal formed a new band, Marc Seberg, more in the line of British post-punk: “L’éclaircie” sounds rather like Ian Curtis fronting Modern English, although its melodic sense is typically French: even when Pascal breaks into English in the bridge, he doesn’t sound like an English singer.

15. Lio Mona Lisa Ariola | Brussels, 1982

Perhaps the song most thoroughly indebted to the French pop of the 1960s in this mix, “Mona Lisa” was written and produced by the two members of Telex, the Belgian synthpop duo whose “Moskow Discow” was one of the foundational new wave singles. But this is pure chamber pop, heavily, even saccharinely, orchestrated, while Lio’s cutesy gamine voice makes even a relatively tame lyric about Leonardo’s masterpiece sound squirmily Gainsbourgian.

16. Axel Bauer Cargo Vogue | Paris, 1983

I haven’t seen the comparison “the French Thomas Dolby” made anywhere, but I’ll go ahead and make it. Rather than an eccentric quasi-novelty reputation, though, Bauer’s is thoroughly French: the video for “Cargo” (the first shown on French MTV) is highly erotic, both homo- and hetero-. But his music, inventive synthpop fascinated by obsolete industrial technology, is just as melodic and as intermittently released as Dolby’s.

17. Buzy Dyslexique Arabella | Paris, 1981

The kind of irreverent, high-concept single that I associate with Stiff Records in the Anglosphere, “Dyslexique” was the first single from singer Buzy (Marie-Claire Girod), better known later in the decade for more Benataresque work. The second verse, in which she mixes up all the words, is a minor triumph of new wave weirdness for its own sake.

18. Chagrin D’amour Monte-Carlo Virgin | Paris, 1984

Perhaps the song I’ve fallen most deeply in love with over the past weeks. Apart from the beat, there’s nothing particularly 80s about it: it’s a disco-flecked variety-show duet (with a race-announcing middle eight) from an act whose real claim to fame was a novelty rap single three years earlier. As masterminded by Grégory Ken, who had been knocking about the French music industry since the sixties beat groups (he’s one of the alternate paths David Bowie could have taken), Chagrin D’amour has a feather-light touch, but the ache as his falsetto reaches for the high note in the homonymic phrase is real.

19. TC Matic Elle adore le noir pour sortir le soir EMI | Brussels, 1985

TC Matic frontman Arno, having matured from his flamboyant yelping in early hit single “Oh la la,” strikes the exact midpoint between Jacques Brel and Joe Strummer here, with a song half in French and half in heavily-accented English, using the tricks of repetition and crescendo to give dramatic texture to a piece of classic pop-song slutshaming.

20. Mylène Farmer Libertine Polydor | Paris, 1986

If you’re not as entirely disgusted with the “the French x” construction as I am yet, take a moment to consider Mylène Farmer as the French Madonna: a generation gap-exploiting dance-pop artist expanding pop’s sexual vocabulary with provocation and high-art aesthetics, at least until the mid-90s when things get iffy. I encourage you to watch the video for “Libertine” — it packs more historical accuracy, dramatic tension, and Continental philosophy into its nine minutes than in the whole of Johnny Depp’s movie of the same name.

21. Carte de Séjour Ramsa Barclay | Paris, 1987

We close with a twelve-inch remix of the last single by Franco-Algerian rock ’n’ raï star Rachid Taha’s first band. It’s not strictly in French, but according to Taha, in Sabir, the ancient lingua franca of the Mediterranean which fused Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish, and Berber. (Sure. To my ears it’s in French and Arabic, with English James Brown-style interjections.) But of course, it’s the groove which really matters, and it’s a good one: Taha’s work would rarely be so danceable again.

This is the second installment in a projected series of 80s pop mixes: four more to cover the rest of Europe, and nineteen for the rest of the world. I make no promises that I will get to any of the rest with any particular haste, although I am thinking about Italy next.