#this is actually the first one i tled

[usabun-tl]

To Those Who Continue To Fight Despite Everything・それでも闘う者達へ — PENGUIN RESEARCH

English+Romaji Translation

明日消えたとしてどうなるかを暇なとき考えてる

Ashita kieta toshite dou naruka wo himana toki kangaeteru

Spending free time wondering what would happen if you disappeared tomorrow

人並みの幸せを知りたいらしいこんなもんじゃないといいけど

Hitonami no shiawase wo shiritairashii konna monjanai to ii kedo

Wanting to know what it's like to be happy, and hoping it's not like this

最期の日だけ 笑えればいいとか

Saigo no hi dake waraereba ii toka

Thinking it'd just be nice to be able to laugh in my final days, or something like that

この世は最悪だ

Kono yo wa saiyaku da

This world is just the worst

絶望の朝が来る

Zetsubou no asa ga kuru

Facing a hopeless morning

それでも 行くのかい

Soredemo yuku no kai

Despite everything, will you continue on

なんでだよ

nande da yo

I wonder why that is

悲しむんだよ傷つくんだよ

Kanashimunda yo kizutsukunda yo

After all it's miserable, and you get hurt

何千回も

Nanzenkai mo

More times than you can count

それでも行くのかいわからずや

soredemo yuku no kai wakarazuya

Despite everything, still continuing on not knowing why

何処へでも行け死ぬなよ

Doko he demo ike shinuna yo

It doesn't matter where you go, but you better not die

(instrumental)

めでたしの後には何もないなら本の中に生まれたかったな

Medetashi no ato ni wa nani mo nai nara hon no naka ni umaretakattana

Wishing to be reborn in a book where the story is over after the happy ending

愛した人もいつか居なくなるよ

aishita hito mo itsuka inaku naru yo

One day everyone you love will disappear too

とんだ呪いだな こりゃ

tonda noroida na korya

It's an unbelievable curse to bear, like come on

嫌なことほど 本当のことばっかさ

iyana koto hodo hontou no koto bakka sa

Believing you'll only ever experience unpleasant things

あらすじは最悪だ

arasuji wa saiyaku da

That idea is just the worst

泣きつくして朝が来る

nakitsuku shite asa ga kuru

Facing a morning where you're begging for mercy

それでも 行くのかい

soredemo yuku no kai

Despite everything, will you keep going

こんなにも裏切られて 嘲笑われて つらかったよな

konna ni mo uragirarete azawararete tsurakatta yo na

Getting betrayed to this extent, being ridiculed, it's hard, isn't it

それでも 闘う者たちがどうしようもなく眩しかった

soredemo tatakau monotachi ga doushiyou mo naku mabushikatta

Those who continue to fight despite everything

Shine so incredibly brightly

(instrumental)

誰にも言えない誰にも代われない

dare ni mo ienai dare ni mo kawarenai

It's impossible for anyone to replace you

嘘を道連れに来たんだ

uso wo michizure ni kitan da

Facing lies from someone who was once beside you

言い残した言葉も捨ててしまった写真も

ii nokoshita kotoba mo sutete shimatta shashin mo

Words left unsaid, and photos thrown away

瓦礫の塔で眠っている

gareki no tou de nemutteiru

Lying on a heap of rubble

鉄格子の鳥籠ハリボテの地平線

tetsugoushi no torikago hari bote no no haribote chiheisen

A bird cage's iron bars, a paper mache horizon

嵐を越えて何処へ行くんだ

arashi wo kotaete doko he ikunda

Where are you going beyond the storm?

ずぶ濡れ 纏わりつく 罪傷罰

zubunure matowaritsuku tsuku kizu bachi

Completely soaked through, desperately clinging on, crime, injury, punishment

果たされないな 誓ったくせに

hatasarenai na chikatta kuse ni

Not being able to fulfill a promise you swore you'd see through

命の締め切りは遠からずだが

Inochi no shimekiri wa tookarazu da ga

Life's deadline is quickly approaching

きっと後悔は残るだろう

kitto koukai wa nokoru darou

Surely there will be regrets, right

きっと情けないままだろう

kitto nasakenai mama darou

Surely it will be pathetic, right

あとがきで御託を並べていいのは

atogaki de gotaku wo nabete ii no wa

But the only ones allowed to ramble in the afterword

1ページ目を踏み出した奴だけだ

ichi peeji me wo fumidashita yatsu kedo

Are those who moved forward with one page

「この世は最悪だ」

kono yo wa saiyaku da

"This world is just the worst"

それが理由だった

sore ga riyuu datta

That was the reason

それでも それでも

soredemo soredemo

Despite everything

Despite everything

それでも それでも 生きてやる

soredemo soredemo ikite yaru

Despite everything, despite everything, go live on

悲しむため苦しむため 君と逢うため

kanashimu tame kurushimu tame kimi to au tame

So you can be sad, and so you can suffer, and so that we can see each other

それでも 闘う者たちへ

soredemo tatakau monotachi he

To those who continue to fight despite everything

救いのない物語を書き果てるまで死ぬなよ

sukui no nai monogatari wo kaki hateru made shinuna yo

Until you've finished writing your irredeemable story to the end, don't die

まだだ死ぬなよ

mada da shinuna yo

Until then, you better not die

[deus-ex-mona]

watching people be blatantly wrong on main be l i k e

[keiksy-cake]

Lunatic Blue Ch 9 (Gore TW || Hetalia Doujinshi)

YEAHHHHH AFTER 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS.

木綿ﾄﾞｩﾌ does it again with another very incredible chapter~ I missed this series so much! The wait was definitely worth it, this chapters as great as the others! I wish I could've finished it faster, I even put My Arika on hold lol, but I had assignments and such D;

There's no gore in this chapter but it's still full of horror and suspense!

If you haven't read this series yet, I HIGHLY recommend it, definitely one of my top top favorites, idk if I like any other more than it. Altho, I started doing a lot to "clean" the pages, which I didn't in the beginning. How much I've grown in both cleaning and translating within this 3 year gap is greatly exemplified in this series... Which is great, but in other words, that also means the first chapters are very drastically... I've been saying for a long time I want to re-do them, I started re-doing the first chapter a couple years back but never finished lol but finally the other day I decided to update it, posting what I have at least. Lets hope my renewed motivation is enough to actually finished...

Since it's been so long, I recommend even those who have read this series to re-read it before reading this one. Anyway, sorry for the long intro! Please enjoy! Here's a list of the prev chapters too:

Lunatic Blue 1

Lunatic Blue 2

Lunatic Blue 3

Lunatic Blue 4

Lunatic Blue 5

Lunatic Blue 6

Lunatic Blue 7

Lunatic Blue 8

I was too lazy to actually redraw this last page, sorry >.> Look at him mad broody tho lol

Also, I accidentally made this and thought it looked cool so I thought I'd add it in lol:

Notes:

Rather than "sir", child Alfred calls Arthur "nii-san" which means "older brother", but it's also largely used to refer to any older young man.

Rather than "the excitement" (of space), America says "romance", but I was afraid any young and/or American readers wouldn't get that it's meant in an excitement sense, not like love kind of romance.

I'm still not that great at translating, I had to guess for a lot of the sound effects bc English onomatopoeia sucks D;

The expression I tled to "prideful" literally is "hates to lose"

If anyone wants to make a clean version

I did not make this series, I'm just your friendly neighborhood translator~

[kurishiri]

Thanks for your reply!! Btw I'm just counting, but isn't it cheaper to just get 13 story tickets for 1300 and using them during the 2x time instead of going for the silver bundle, or any other bundle? Since you get 200 (400) for each chapter, plus an additional 500 (1000) for 5 chapters, so you get 13x 400 = 5200 and plus 2x 1k =7200 hearts, which equals to 72 heart sends vs 52 from the silver bundle? Since you get 4 coctails (2000 hearts during 2x), + 5 story tickets = 2000+1000, +200 hearts so it should give you 5200 hearts. So overall, it seems to me just purchasing story tickets seems way cheaper always. Gold set coctail: 10*80*5=4k, story ticket 8*400+1k=4.2k +500 = 8700 hearts vs 23 tickets = 10k+4k =14k hearts. So 87 vs 140 sends. So it's way cheaper to just buy story tickets and use them during 2x (or 3x) instead of going for the value sets, as I didn't calculate the later bundles, but since even the gold set is almost 40% less sends, I think it's the best to just buy tickets directly, or ticket bundles, right? :) By the way, do you have a translation or any vidoes of jude's card? I'm super curious if it's actually worth it to spend 20eur or more to get him or not :D

hii! i'll put the stuff about the bundles and all that under the cut again, but to answer your question about the jude card .. i mean, i think this story will have diehard jude fans screaming loll im not sure like where you at on the jude fan scale, but even though the story itself isn't like super romantic, as in kate and jude are not in an established relationship here, its got the tension lmao and lets just say, i think some lines in there can definitely be taken out of context 👌✨ im not sure if there's a video out there rn or if someone had tled it (you could check out @.archiveikemen, though i think they mentioned sorta stopping tling jude centric stories at one pt and idk if that pt was before or after that jude card came out on jp. or @.judesmoonbeauty as ik shes a jude fan!) but i hope my description can sort of help you get an idea what to expect without dropping too much spoilers and all.

each story ticket expended effectively equates to 🩷100 without lucky time, but they only give you 🩷500 only after you complete all 5 scenes in the chapter. during 2x lucky time for stories, you would receive 🩷200 per scene (ticket spent), i.e. 🩷1,000 for every chapter. so assuming you start at chapter 1, 13 story tickets would be enough for you to get 🩷2,000 plus another 🩷400 for the intimacy check, totaling to 🩷2,400 = 24 times sent, as 13 tickets will only be enough to read 2 chapters in its entirety; you don't receive 🩷200 for each ticket you spend, but rather 🩷1,000 every 5 tickets spent.

and for escorts, you can get 🩷40 normally without any lucky time applied, per escort (20 AP). so 5 escorts, i.e. expending all 100 AP, or 1 cocktail, will get you 🩷200. during lucky time, we double the amount of hearts per escort to 🩷80, which will make doing 5 escorts 🩷400.

so, if you buy 23 tickets, which is 💎2,300 and enough to get you through 4 full parts with 3 tickets overflow, as 23 % 5 = 3... assuming you start at chapter 1 of a route, that would place you at:

no lucky time: (4 × 🩷500) + (2 × 🩷200) = 🩷2,400 = 24 times sent

2x lucky time: (4 × 🩷1,000) + (2 × 🩷400) = 🩷4,800 = 48 times sent

3x lucky time i realized there was also a time frame where they had 3x story lucky time, but i didn't account for that in the previous ask because.. jp didnt have any lmao: (4 × 🩷1,500) + (2 × 🩷600) = 🩷7,200 = 72 times sent

if you buy the gold set for 💎200 more at 💎2,500... first to calculate story tickets... like the 23 ticket option, you will have 8 % 5 = 3 tickets overflow with enough to read 1 chapter in its entirety. again, assuming you start at chapter 1, here are the stats,

no lucky time: 🩷500 = 5 times sent

2x lucky time: 🩷1,000 = 10 times sent

3x lucky time: 🩷1,500 = 15 times sent

and then you have 10 cocktails, so that will give you

no lucky time: 10 × 🩷200 = 🩷2,000 = 20 times sent

2x lucky time: 10 × 🩷400 = 🩷4,000 = 40 times sent

3x lucky time: 10 × 🩷600 = 🩷6,000 = 60 times sent

on top of that, you get 🩷500 = 5 times sent.

so even in the worst case where you use the set items during no lucky time, you get 5 + 20 + 5 = 30 times sent. and in the best case, you can snag 15 + 60 + 5 = 80 times sent. if you use both the tickets and the cocktails during 2x lucky time for the story and escorts respectively, you have 10 + 40 + 5 = 55 times sent. and plus, you get 3 closets, which i mean, it's good to always take closets where you can.

so, if you ask me, personally i wouldn't say it's way cheaper to just buy a bunch of story tickets, per se. i feel like if you're going to just buy story tickets, you may as well just get the 30 tickets and 🩷600 during the story lucky time for 💎3,000. you would essentially be getting a little more than an entire chapter's worth of hearts gifted for free (without lucky time), so you would be saving yourself 💎500, effectively. during 2x lucky time, you would be getting 🩷6,000 + 🩷800 + 🩷600 = 🩷7,400 = 74 times sent. again, assuming you start from chapter 1.

i hope this helps a bit figure out what you want to do!

[pardi-real]

Hello! Thank you for translating aknk! based on seeing Lato's SSR card being tled, does that mean you will be translating other SSR cards in the future?

Hello Anon! Actually someone requested for a card story tl, so I thought sure and picked my fav.

But I don't have his other cards or any basement butlers

I think I'll still do these three but I like chaos so please choose which one first (this blog has so many polls are definitely not because of Yttd, yes ofc not)

[zombieweek-g]

Future Plans

Making this my pinned to update as I finish stuff. Since most of my followers got here through my don TL they may not know that I was actually just a manga translator prior to it, and that's what basically all my projects going forward are gonna be.

Also a reminder that if you don't wanna see reblogs about transgender sex you can jsut follow my wordpress blog instead!

Sorting in order of priority, so the stuff I'm focusing on immediately is at the top and future projects at the bottom:

Madan Senki Ryukendo:

This one is absolute #1 on my priority list, since it's a collaborative project with bereke, this one's gonna come out on their site exclusively, so I won't be posting about it on here.

Ultraman Nexus Manga:

Sorta tied as priority #1, and should be out pretty quickly once I finish up with ryukendo, unless ive completely forgotten how to do scantalation. chapter 1&2 are already out on mangadex! (follow the group link on the chapters to see the other stuff I've tled on there too)

Ultraman Geed: Another Gene:

Someone kindly sent me the raws for this back in december! So once nexus is wrapped up I'll be moving on to this Geed side story. It's only 1 chapter so it'll be a very one and done sort of thing once I get to it.

Darkness Heels -Lili-:

Lili is sorta in publication limbo at this point, I've actually subbed everything that's out atm except for the bonus chapter in volume 2, which I'm holding off on for 2 reasons- 1: I don't want to release volume exclusive content and risk potentially harming the sales of said volume when the author has confirmed that the series future depends on it. If you've read lili and enjoyed it please buy the physical releases! 2: I don't actually even have a scanner so there's no way for me to even get the chapter short of taking photos with my phone, which would obv be super low quality. If there's eventually a confirmation of cancellation or further publication I'll probably just bite the bullet and use the phone pics, but if anyone happens to have scans and wants to send them my way I'd appreciate it!

Kamen Rider Kaixa Manga:

Surprise! I actually stared working on this last year in like, june. I'd planned originally to have ch1 out for 913 day but don kinda just took all my time. That said with what I have left to do before this it might still manage to release on 913 day. Also there's only the first 3 chapters available scanned online, so this is just gonna be them unless I can find further raws available somewhere.

That's It!

I don't have anything planned beyond these projects, so if I get to the end of this and haven't found something else to work on I'll probably end up just picking up ohger again (assuming it doesn't turn out to be awful anyway).

Or idk, maybe ill just go back to translating doujins at the end of it all.

[crownconstellation]

taking the essay out of the tags because while this is very much not that deep (as it’s just a silly little normalcy poll), i do think there’s a lot to be said that needs reframing, reevaluating, and contextualising regarding fan view as a whole of Mayoi and his writing in a way that factors in real-world biases involved in his portrayal.

certainly, he has his issues with how he conducts himself due to his lack of general interaction with others. that's fair. he scuttles around vents & hides around the ES building, yeah sure. but honestly? that’s not too far off from, say, Shinobu’s scaling buildings as ninja training, or Sora’s parkour activities (especially considering Sora has access to one of Mayoi’s hiding spots), on the normalcy scale.

what else can be considered "abnormal" about him, though... see, the thing about Enstars is that it often portrays things — issues, illnesses, specific character backgrounds — with intent, but without care or research; they love taking things and making a joke out of them in some way. this is evident in many, MANY characters’ writing, and Mayoi is a noticeable example.

how odd he comes across is that he is portrayed as much worse than he is for the sake of a joke at his expense, and this joke is untangleable from both ableism and racism in-writing. this is particularly & primarily evident in 1. moreso earlier !! writing and 2. Akira-involved writing specifically, as this issue comes across primarily in stories he’s involved in writing (in particular, early idol stories, !! Main Story, & Motor Show, with the one main exception i can think of to the Akira rule being January 2021’s White Lilies by Nishioka Maiko). the other writers (particularly Yuumasu, though Kinosei [when not assisted by Akira] is also generally quite good in how he treats him) tend to be far kinder regarding how they write Mayoi (ex. Illusory Noctilucence, Dead End Land, & both his FS1 + 2), & in more recent stories there have been generally few jokes at his expense, with VS. Gourmet being a notable example because i was very, very worried to see him in that at first only for it to portray him generally well. (the worst it gets is him getting kicked by Ritsu [who is a good friend of his otherwise?] for patting Raika on the head. For some reason. their interactions are quite fine otherwise. Mayoi is treated normally.)

(the kick. VS. Gourmet - Praise of Delicious Flavours, Chapter 4. TLed by 310mc.)

vs. their main set of interactions:

(VS. Gourmet - Flood of Customers, Chapter 2. TLed by 310mc.)

(VS. Gourmet - Flood of Customers, Chapter 3. TLed by 310mc.)

VGM was good for Mayoi. just wanted to share & compare.

but as for what i mean when i say the joke at his expense is untangleable from bigotry in-writing.... let's get further into that.

the ableism is an obvious one— Mayoi is deeply and horrifically anxious and is one of the series’ more outspoken portrayals of any sort of disorder or mental issue. he also seems to canonically experience intrusive thoughts— however, these are generally not portrayed well for the above reason of “with intent, but without care or research.”

as suggested in his bio and how these are portrayed in most early writing, Mayoi's more unsavoury thoughts are treated as "his true thoughts"; this is a very common misconception regarding intrusive thoughts from people who do not understand them and what they are. (personal note: was a psych student. saw this directly in my learnings and from classmates and so am stating this first-hand -- this is a very, very common misconception from people who do not understand or experience them, which is, when combined with an understanding of Enstars' & particularly Akira's writing, what makes me so certain Mayoi is 100% intended to be written as experiencing intrusive thoughts.)

there is one case of it actually being handled correctly, that being his Idol Story 3, which makes it both more certain that intrusive thoughts are the intent and more baffling that he was most commonly written as described above, as Akira does demonstrate Mayoi's facing intrusive thoughts and taking issue with them in a way that acknowledges them as unwanted. One time.

other times, his thought problems and anxiety issues are played up as a joke to make him seem predatory, with the punchline being "he isn't actually, but he sure SEEMS like it, doesn't he?"

as shown in his Idol Story 2.

(both TLs from ES Wiki archive; TLed by 'Holi'.)

he is portrayed weirdly to make people go "haha wow, he's weird!", while both yanking the rug back to go "but ACTUALLY, he's not as bad as he seems!" and also providing that base "but isn't he weird, though?" to cater to people who want to interpret it in that direction. this is not new for Ensemble Stars, considering all of the various kinds of bait this series throws out. Mayoi is nowhere near the only character who deals with this kind of teasing and ambiguity to play to a specific subset of fans while also going "but it's not ACTUALLY like that haha don't worry ^_^" for the base set. but it is prominent for him, and it is deeply frustrating.

one particular example in mind here is an infamous line of his, his Noon - Topic 2 voice line. the drug one.

enclosed below are both the official ENG TL (screenshot taken by me), & the Wiki-provided TL.

i'm not exactly knowledgeable in Japanese, but i did research the character used for 'drug' quite a bit when looking into this. '薬,' Kusuri. First and foremost means 'drug' in a pharmaceutical sense. Medicine. it does have other meanings, such as 'chemical' (re: pottery glazing), or in the slang sense for more recreational drugs. but its primary meaning is 'medicine.'

combined with Mayoi's more formal / polite speaking style (meaning he's not likely to use the more slang-y version), the official TL (despite ENGstars' clunkiness, it does often carry the general sense of things across decently), and the knowledge that Mayoi is a character who is designed to sound far worse than he intends...

he's saying something that can be interpreted like he's doping his friends, when he's moreso putting something like vitamins or medicine in their drinks as his way of taking care of them / expressing his fondness for them. is that a good thing? no, but it does fall in line with his wanting to take care of other people & be seen as reliable + his not really knowing how to express it in a healthy way due to his isolation and anxiety.

on top of this very much being an issue for Mayoi, and regarding my commentary that this has its roots in ableism due to his being one of Enstars' most outspoken portrayals of issues: this specific problem has happened before and he is not the first. this also occurred with Shu back in 2016 when he was first introduced. the character with the canon dissociative disorder who has always been intended & written as having one. one of his very first stories involves him being presented as predatory towards the Ra*bits first years.

(ES wiki archive, Shu Itsuki sub story 'Puppet Sovereign.' TLed by Kotofucius.)

((that second screencap also, with that particular comment about Arashi, circles back to the general point of 'without care,' considering this was written in 2016 before she had been presented officially as a trans character & was still, at that time, being portrayed in a decently uncomfortable and wishy-washy way.))

i will say that this (behaviour portrayed as predatory in some way for the sake of a bit) is, in general, just... a noticeable joke in general in Enstars. Wataru's nickname of 'Masked Pervert'. Ritsu groping Hajime in ! era. how oddly in his interactions with teenagers Rinne is portrayed sometimes. Mao's tic of describing various interactions unnecessarily as 'sexual harassment,' portrayed as recently as Xday. it happens a lot. it just also stands out even more when used with characters who are more outspoken portrayals of various disorders, especially when it's used prominently.

that is the ableism. going into my next point: his issues and worse aspects of his portrayal very much involve writer racism -- specifically, anti-indigenous racism & sentiment.

regarding Mayoi, this is not as directly out-there as the ableism. while hinted at as early as !! Main Story, Mayoi's being indigenous was not directly canonised until the combination of Grand Slam and Blackjack, both 2022 stories.

(Grand Slam - Blue Requiem, Chapter 6. TLed by aeoki)

(Blackjack - Gifts Will Not Arrive, Chapter 10. TLed by aeoki)

(Blackjack - Gifts Will Not Arrive, Chapter 11. TLed by aeoki)

While not confirmed in-game until 2022, it does, however, appear to have been intended from the very start due to the combination of in-story hints (Hiiro & Mayoi feeling familiarity with each other / Mayoi describing Hiiro as having "the same scent," as well as Kanata, who is revealed in the above-shared Grand Slam dialogue that describes his 'sea people' as indigenous to be from the same family lineage as Mayoi, finding him familiar), as well as an on-the-record statement from Akira circa 2020 from this 4gamer interview .

(MTL) AKIRA: Hiiro is the viewpoint character of the story and the first main character, so when I first portrayed him, I was too conscious of not wanting him to be disliked, so I ended up making him a normal person. I added details to him, such as making his speech strange and making his hometown a strange place, even though there was nothing particularly interesting about him. The mysterious hometown setting was originally Mayoi's.

Based on knowledge of the Amagis and what that "hometown" ended up being intended as, as well as the knowledge that Mayoi has been intended to at least run parallel with the Amagis regarding their history due to his and Hiiro's on-the-record finding similarity with each other, this very much offers the possibility that Mayoi was initially specifically intended as being Ainu. This is just a possibility, as the statement is vague & we do not have any indication in any direction past Akira taking this "hometown" plan for Mayoi and using it for the Amagis, but the possibility itself is very, very bad to consider, considering

How the Amagis' indigenous identity & their being implied Ainu is treated, with details such as their having more direct references to the Amagis' culture / heritage (ex. the patterns on their child selves' sprites) scrubbed due to them being considered an offensive portrayal, how barbarically Hiiro & the Amagi village are at-times portrayed (ex. January 2021's White Lilies & The Legend of Ox-Hour, Part B) ... these issues hold true as recently as April 2024, with Matrix - a story surrounded by attempts to criticise anti-indigenous racism (using Aira as a mouthpiece, primarily) while actively contributing to it .

Mayoi's primarily Akira-based portrayal as "seems predatory for the bit."

his being intended as some sort of indigenous character appears to have been intended from the start, and it makes the way he is portrayed worse.

tldr; i'm not about to say Mayoi is the most normal character in Ensemble Stars. i am, however, saying that people need to take a step back and evaluate the intricacies of his character and the reasonings behind the more bizarre or odd aspects of his charaacter and writing before calling them their little freak (even affectionately), because it ties into writer biases.

he's this. he likes dioramas and singing / dancing and cooking + baking and his incredibly wide friend circle. he is at the end of the day just some guy with bad anxiety that is steadily improving over the course of !! and !!! year. the writing is just really abnormal about him sometimes, which cannot be detached from the biases involved in his character & how he comes across :( please consider this when factoring in why he might be the least normal to you.

*there is no definition of normal for this poll. use whatever metric of ~normal~ to decide your answer

[foralwaysandforever]

His Star

Remus Lupin x gn!Reader (gender neutral)

Word count: 760

Warnings: none <3

This may be my favorite thing I've ever written. Just pure Marauder's content and fluff <3 also this is my first time writing with gender neutral pronouns, so tell me if there is anything I can improve on! As always, constructive criticism is amazing and I encourage y'all to give me any :)

I wrote another prompt, y'all:

"I love you guys,"

"One of us in particular a little bit more, though, right?"

♡°♡°♡

"I think I love him, Padfoot," Y/N sighed dramatically the second Remus left the room.

"Just because he gave you some chocolate?" Sirius asked, in mock disbelief, a grin on his face. You both were lounging on the Gryffindor common room couch by the fireplace, the soft tapping of the rain on the windows making you much more grateful you were inside.

"I mean, that might contribute to it," You giggled, breaking off a piece of the chocolate to give to James. He was sitting next to Sirius, his legs lazily draped over the arm of the couch.

"He's thoughtful, kind, compassionate, loving, and he has an almost infinite supply of chocolate. What more could you want?" You said, and it was true, you really did like him.

"Well, I for one think that Remus and Y/N would be a fantastic match," Peter piped up, who was laying on the floor in front of the couch.

"Oh, I think so too. Moony and his Star, Y/N," James teased.

"His what?" You asked, grinning.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know. Oops."

"It was supposed to be a secret, you bloody git." Sirius smacked him over the head.

"What's supposed to be a secret?" You whispered leaning forward as if you were on the edge of your seat for an answer.

"Well, that's Remus's nickname for you, his Star," James rubbed his head gingerly, glaring at his friend. "Wish I had come up with that first. Wormtail, help me think of deer pet-names for Lily..."

But you tuned out of their conversation at this point. A warm feeling spread from your stomach throughout your whole body. He had a pun nickname for you? His Star. "He actually likes me?"  You thought, a small smile gracing your lips.

"James and his Lily Pad!" Peter shot up from his place on the floor, pointing down at James.

"That's not deer related," James frowned, and Peter dropped back onto the floor. You giggled and nudged Sirius, who looked deep in thought.

"Got any ideas, Mr. Ladies Man?"

"Prongs and his Dear?" Sirius guessed.

"No, that's too simple. That was low-hanging fruit, Sirius," James groaned, his head in his hands. "You guys are awful at this."

"What about Prongs and his Doe?" Remus said, re-entering the common room. Your heart beat a little faster.

"Aha! Moony, you're a genius," James jumped up, grabbing his friend by the shoulders.

"So I've been told," He shrugged, and you beckoned him to sit next to you. There obviously was almost no room left on that couch, but you were determined. You stood up only to push James's feet off of the arm of the couch so he could move over.

"That was not nice, Y/N," James pouted, you shot him a smug wink and pulled Remus to sit next to you.

"Hmph, seems it's not the first time you came up with a clever nickname, though is it, Moony?" Sirius smirked, his love of mischief outwieghing his loyalty to Remus. Moony glanced at you, a light shade of pink spreading across his face.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you are insinuating, Sirius," He did a poor job of holding back a grin.

"Yeah, I almost Star-ted to believe you," James snickered, nudging Sirius.

"We probably shouldn't Star-e," Sirius grinned. "Stare is pronounced like stairs, Sirius," You whispered to him, giggling. He shushed you. "You're ruining the pun."

"If he knew we told them, he'd be very Star-tled," Peter said. Remus had his head in his hands at this point, and you were almost crying with laughter.

"I love you guys," You gasped out, wiping a tear from your eye.

"One of us in particular a little bit more, though, right?" James nudged you, and you deadpanned. Uh oh.

"No, no, no, wait, it was funny when it was Remus, don't do this to me," You pleaded.

"Wasn't Y/N just saying how much they loved Remus after he left?" Sirius smiled innocently, you could feel Remus's gaze. James tapped his temple, as if he had just remembered something.

"Padfoot, my dear friend, you're absolutely right. Wasn't it that he was the most 'thoughtful, sweet and kind' guy that they had ever met?" James high fived Peter, but you could see Remus's smile out of the corner of your eye. You stood up, pulling Remus up with you.

"Traitors, every one of you are traitors," You announced, glaring at them. "Guess I'll just have to stick with my Moony," You hooked your arm around his.

"It seems I'm stuck with my Star," Remus smiled.

♡°♡°♡

[kenkamishiro]

Lost in Translation: Choujin X chapter 1

Fun fact, I was planning to do fan translations for Choujin X with a scan group until it could get a simulpub release, though I didn’t expect it to get one from the very first chapter lol. I’m happy though since it means everyone can read it right away and it doesn’t mess up my schedule.

So instead I’ll be making comparison notes between the EN and JP text to supplement the official translation. I’m not doing this because the official TL is bad (I actually think it’s pretty solid and I hope it will maintain this quality) but because it’s inevitable for something to be lost in translation, and it’s nice to have that additional context for theory crafting and whatnot.

If you want to read it on Twitter instead, the original thread is here, but this is the proofread and way more detailed version 😄

This translation isn’t wrong, but there’s an emphasis on それ (which is TLed as ‘it’) that connotes a stronger, “other, that thing” feeling that isn’t present here. The general idea behind this sentence is: That [becoming a Choujin] resembles more of a disease [than a transformation].

Ely talks like a tomboy, she uses rougher speech patterns and the pronoun オラ (ora), a derivative of the masculine 'ore'. But it's a bit old-fashioned (eg. すまなんだ) which makes sense considering her upbringing with her grandfather on a farm. Hence her country bumpkin speech pattern in English.

Not sure if I should use Ellie or Ely? Ellie makes more sense based on the kana, but Ishida explicitly called her Ely so I might stick with Ely for now... (also istg that blond guy with the huge chin is a reference, I've seen him somewhere)

Tokio, I know your teacher is annoying, but it's rude to call her that lol. This is basically the oppai equivalent of paisen (senpai backwards, it’s slangier). Similar thing actually happened with Ely describing her dream hubby as Goldilocks instead of blond; ‘kinpatsu’ (blond hair) was inverted to become ‘patsukin’, hence the translation as Goldilocks.

Kurohara Tokio (黒原トキオ) and Higashi Azuma (東アヅマ). Kurohara is a common surname, means 'black fields'. Tokio is in katakana, so it’s hard to say what kanji it could be. 'Toki' could be 時 (time) or 外喜 (outside + delight). The 'o' can be the common male name suffix 男 (boy).

But when I think of Tokio, I think of TK's song called 'tokio'. You can read the translated lyrics here. If these lyrics end up being relevant to Tokio's character development I will eat my shoe lol.

Higashi means 'east'. Azuma (which can also be romanized as Aduma, it’s a softer ‘zu’ sound which is why Tokio called Azuma ‘Aju’ earlier in the chapter before correcting himself) is an archaic form of ‘east’. So...this guy is literally East East. The Choujin X equivalent of Moon Moon 😂

Someone also informed me that Higashi Azuma is a station in Tokyo, though the kana are slightly different (アヅマ／あづま vs. あずま). They effectively sound the same though nowadays, if I have to be honest. It’s like comparing the difference between 애 and 에 in Korean.

Tbh this is minor, but worth mentioning just cause it changes the meaning a bit. Tokio is saying something more like, “Why are we even talking about this [the roly-polies] again?”

I think I heard people talking about how the official TL doesn’t match the original text, but personally I really like how this was translated! Sis is using the expression  「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」, which literally means “boiling the dirt under someone’s fingernails and drinking it”. By taking the dirt/grime under the fingernails of someone that you admire, and boiling it and drinking it like a tea, you can become more like them.

But because idioms don’t tend to directly translate well between languages, translators often have to adapt it so that the meaning still remains the same. In English the closest idiom we have to this is “rubbing off on someone.” The “holding hands” bit was added to replace the physical aspect of “taking the dirt from someone’s fingernails” and also contribute to Sis’s sassy and very informal way of speaking.

So Sis is saying in JP (ignoring her personal speech style for now):

You should take the dirt from under [Azuma's] fingernails and boil it so you can be more like him.

And now in ENG it becomes:

You guys should hold hands or something, then maybe he’ll rub off on you.

It now sounds natural in English, still carries the same meaning as the original text, and also suits the character’s speech pattern.

Moving on, in that same panel the literal TL of Tokio’s dialogue is, “Policeman Azuma got dispatched again today,” emphasizing Azuma’s heroic deeds along with his family connections to the police. Another thing I want to note is that this is the second time Azuma has been called 偉い (erai) so far - noble, and now great guy. I’ll just dump the general English definition of 偉い from Jisho here so you get the general idea:

Great; excellent; admirable; remarkable; distinguished; important; celebrated; famous; eminent

But you can tell from how people describe Azuma as 偉い that others look up to him, think he’s a great person and Mr. Perfect. Always being placed on a pedestal by others. (What are the odds this will affect his mentality after the Choujin serum?)

The meaning is still pretty much the same, but I’ll offer a slightly different perspective. Sis mentions that if she were Tokio, she’d burst from the [Azuma] complex. (Clearly Tokio and Azuma's relationship is gonna crack at some point)

Tokio mentions an idiom about hawks (taka) before recalling his childhood memory about vultures. Vultures are called 'hagewashi', but in the chapter it mentions they can also be called 'hagetaka' (buzzard/condor, literally bald hawk).

The kids call him names like "Hagetaka Tokio" and "Hageo". But Hagetaka Tokio only really works in JP cause Hagetaka kinda mimics his last name (Buzzard Tokio doesn't give the same vibe). Same with Hageo. Hage-o = Bald-o = Baldy.

I also think Buzzard was chosen over another name for a vulture like Condor because Buzzard can pass off as an insult.

I would have translated this as, “I wanted to be a lion too...” but this is just personal preference.

A continuation of the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression Sis used earlier. Without the adapted idiom the exchange goes something like this:

Tokio: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

Azuma: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

Tokio: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

Azuma: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

But since the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression was modified to make it sound natural in English, it means this conversation has to be modified too.

JP: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

EN: My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you. What do you think?

The “dirt from under your nails” part got adapted to “holding hands”, hence how the 1st line from Tokio becomes, “My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you.” “Can I have some?” makes no sense now in this context now, so it was changed to “What do you think?” as a question to Azuma to keep the similar conversation flow going.

JP: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

EN: Huh? What’re you talking about? No thanks.

Azuma’s next line is similar enough to the JP text except for the removal of “scary”. I think the reason it was most likely removed is because leaving it as it is could be constituted as homophobic (2 boys holding hands, absolutely nothing scary about it as bible thumpers would like people to believe).

JP: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

EN: She said to hold hands so you’ll rub off on me.

Tokio’s response to that is explaining what he meant by his proposal. In the original text he lays out the latter half of the idiom (he doesn’t even realize it’s an expression, poor boy), and in English he does something similar by going into why his sister said they should hold hands (so Azuma can rub off on Tokio).

JP: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

EN: C’mon. That’s not how things work.

Azuma’s then rebuts Tokio’s proposal as ridiculous. In the original text he drops a typical straight man response (don’t do *insert whatever ridiculous thing the idiot suggested*). But since Tokio’s proposal in English isn’t as preposterous, his rebuttal is toned down in response by telling him not to take it literally.

Ultimately, even though a lot of this dialogue was changed, I still think it was successful in maintaining the original’s intent. Tokio takes his sister’s sarcastic suggestion literally and brings it up to Azuma, who dismisses it as silly. It would be nice if we could keep the expression as it was in Japanese, but in instances like this where it’s played off of in multiple lines, that’s easier said than done.

軟体 isn’t an actual word, it’s made up of the kanji soft + body. So kinda like Elastigirl, but Flexi was chosen instead. It doesn’t sound 100% right, but I don’t think I could come up with anything better.

Replacing the しい in 楽しい with the C plus that elongated pronunciation makes Johnny sound even more like a stereotypical Yankee, which is why he sounds like that in English 😂

Random but I found it interesting how Azuma called Johnny a youkai (妖怪) instead of something like bakemono (化け物) or obake (お化け) since they’re shapeshifting monsters.

Tokio is worried that if he doesn't do something right now, he's going to lose his friendship with Azuma. The sentence is fine as it is though.

Azuma’s line can also be worded as, "No hard feelings, okay?"

Bestial = 獣化 (juuka) = beast+change = beast transformation

That’s it from me, if you have questions about the TL feel free to send an ask or reply to this post, I promise I’ll check my inbox more often this time 😂

[weebtarurights]

Tsuzuru Minagi SSR ( Absolute Hit Hawkeye)

Here’s the last card from “PULL THE TRIGGER” set. It’s actually the first card I TLed in the set so it’s  been sitting on my folder for a while now. xD Since  the story is somehow connected to each other (Just like the other sets), I decided to up them from R->SR->SSR  ^^=

Read full backstage under the cut! 

Story Title: "Cool Hitman"

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 1˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Tsuzuru: Luckily, we made it to the sale. Izumi: Yup, these supplies will last us for a while. Tsuzuru: Hm? This flyer.... Survival game event? Izumi: Heh, so they're also organizing an event like this. Tsuzuru: It's a survival game sponsored by a theater company. Speaking of, you participated in a survival game during our training camp, didn't you? Izumi: I did. I participated with Itaru-san. I even ended up becoming an MVP...How nostalgic. Tsuzuru-kun, are you not interested in survival games? Tsuzuru: It's not that I'm not interested... I'd say I want to try it if I am given an opportunity. Juza: Director, Tsuzuru-san. Tsuzuru: Juza? What a coincidence. Juza: There's a Japanese confectionary shop selling limited edition manju near here. Izumi: Ahaha, you're the same as ever. Juza: I'll carry that bag for you. Izumi: Thank you, Juza-kun.

Izumi: We're back. Juza: We're back. Tsuzuru: We're back. Itaru: Come on, Tasuku~.

Tasuku: If it's not WinEle, I'll refuse. [1] Itaru: It's a shooting game. Don't worry. It's easy to operate. Tasuku: You are missing the point here. Tsuzuru: What's happening? Itaru: I'm currently persuading Tasuku to play a game with me.   Tasuku: Ask someone else. Tsuzuru:  If you want to play a shooting game, we saw a flyer about a survival event that’s going to be held soon. Why don't you participate? Itaru: No way, are you telling me to die? I got ripped to pieces the last time I participated in a survival game with the director. Izumi: Itaru-san was in terrible shape at that time. Tsuzuru: I can somehow imagine it. Itaru: Not to mention the director-san was so bad-ass. She was powerful enough to K.O. all the enemies. Izumi: Thinking about getting revenge on behalf of Itaru-san somewhat made me stronger... Tasuku: .....I can only imagine. That being said, is the survival game event you're talking about the one that's being organized by a theater company? Izumi: Tasuku-san, do you know it? Tasuku: Actually, I have an acquaintance who likes survival games in that company. They invited me so I'm planning to participate. Tsuzuru: Is that so? What kind of event is it? Tasuku: It seems like the participants will have to play a role during the survival game. The roles will be written on a profile card that will be distributed in advance. Tsuzuru: Heh,  that's indeed theater-like. Tasuku: Half of them were forced to participate. I decided to participate but I wonder if it'll be a good activity to develop my skills. Izumi: It's so like you to say that. Itaru: That's a theater nerd for you. Tasuku: Chigasaki, would you like to participate? Itaru: I am deeply honored to be invited but I am afraid I must decline. Izumi: Ahaha...

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 2 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Tasuku: Well it's fine if you don't want to participate. If you know anyone who might be interested, just let me know. Anyone who wants to do it is fine--- Tsuzuru: Then how about the director? Izumi: Me? Tsuzuru: You're a very experienced person as far as I know. You seem to be strong enough to protect Itaru-san. Itaru: Stop calling me a weakling. Tsuzuru: I am only telling the truth. Aren't you weak when it comes to survival games? Izumi: I'm sure it'll be fun but my acting skills are so bad. I'm quite worried about the acting part this time... Tasuku: Well, acting only makes up half of the game. You don't have to worry about it. Izumi: Then.. Tsuzuru-kun and Juza-kun, would you like to participate too? Tsuzuru: Eh? Juza: Me too? Izumi: Tsuzuru-kun said that he'd love to try if given an opportunity and Juza-kun seems to be good at handling guns. Tsuzuru: Well, I certainly said that... Juza: I don't mind. I'll join. Izumi: Alright, it's decided then. Itaru: Then how about playing a game with me as practice? Tasuku: I told you already. I'm not playing unless it's WinEle. Tsuzuru: I don't have much experience so I'm a bit nervous. But I'll do my best. Itaru: GL~.

Tsuzuru: Hmm....

Izumi: Tsuzuru-kun, what's up? Tsuzuru: Actually... I just received the profile sheet for the survival game event but....look. Izumi: Hm? "Cool Hitman: Hawk" Ahaha, it's far from the usual Tsuzuru-kun. Tsuzuru: Right.... I was thinking of what to do. Izumi: By the way, here's what I got. Tsuzuru: " A female sniper feared by humanity: Jane" It's kinda amazing.. Izumi: I wonder what others got. Tsuzuru: I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of roles Takato-san and Juza will play. I'm playing a hitman. I guess I'll study by watching movies. Izumi: That's right, You might be able to get a grasp of your role through a movie. Tsuzuru: Furuichi-san might know something helpful. I'll ask if he has a DVD too. Izumi: Let's do our best. Tsuzuru: Yeah.

Manager: Hoorayyy! That's it for today's cleaning! Izumi: The baths are sparkling clean too. Sakuya: It feels nice to have it cleaned. Izumi: Sakuya-kun, thank you for helping us. Manager: Really~ you saved our guts~. It's so clean it makes me want to start dancing! Hhm Hhm Hhm~♪ Tsuzuru: ...... Izumi: Ah, Manager-! Behind you--! Manager: Eh? ----! Awawawahh M-minagi-kun! I'm sorry! Tsuzuru: No...It's fine.

Manager: T-that's Minagi-kun, right? He doesn't seem like his usual self. Sakuya: Tsuzuru-kun said he's going to play a cool hitman in the upcoming survival game event. That's why he's doing a role study for it. Manager: Makes sense! He's already giving off that vibe~. Izumi: Yup, yup. It's perfect. (I'm looking forward to what kind of role it'll turn out to be.)

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ PART 3 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Izumi: It's finally here! Tasuku: Yeah. Juza: Yeah. Tsuzuru: I've seen it on video but it's so much wider in person. Tasuku: It's a dedicated field of some sort. Troupe Member: Takato-kun, thank you for joining us today. Tasuku: Don't mention it. This is the director of the theater company I belong to. Izumi: Nice to meet you. Tsuzuru: Nice to meet you. Troupe Member: Then, please change into the equipment immediately. Juza: 'kay.

Organizer: The rules are simple! The goal is to play against the enemy team and take their flag. Victory belongs to the team that completely obliterates the opponent team ! Participant A: Let's do our best! Participant B: Let's aim for victory! Tsuzuru: What's with this overwhelming atmosphere? Troupe Member: Some of these guys are hardcore players but I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm still a beginner myself. Tasuku: We just gotta do it. Izumi: Let's do our best, everyone. Juza: Yeah. Tsuzuru: Let's give our all.

----*whistle* Tsuzuru: It has begun. Tasuku: Don't let your guard down. Hide behind the shadows to see how the land lies. Izumi: Understood! Juza: 'kay. Tsuzuru: ---! ----*pow* Juza: That was close.... Tsuzuru: The enemies found us. Tasuku: You'll be mowed down if you move sloppily. Be careful. Izumi: ( Everyone's already into character... Incredible ) W-what should we do. [2] Juza: ....I'll lead the way. Tsuzuru: Oi, Fox! Tasuku: What are you talking about? Don't run off without thinki--- ----*bratatata* Juza: Hey! Hey! Hey! Crawl outta your holes! Let's make the bullets rain! ----*bratatata* Izumi: There he goes.... (I can see a little bit of Luciano in him...) Tasuku: Geez... This is what happens when you dare to bare your fangs against your superior! ----*pow* Participant C: Hit! Tsuzuru: I'll go ahead. We still got some ass to kick. ---*boom* Izumi: Everyone went on their way. I have to do my best too! A-anyone who dares to get close w-will be mowed down in one shot! Participant D: Uwah! Participant E: Hit! ----*pow* *pow* pow* Tsuzuru: ...That's the way to go. Izumi: P-piece of cake. Tsuzuru: ---! Behind you! Izumi: Eh? Tsuzuru: ---Go to hell. ----*pow* Participant F: They got me....Hit! Tsuzuru: That was close. Are you okay?

Izumi: Y-yes. (I involuntarily responded politely. I have to get into my character! )

Choice 1: "Thank you for your help" Izumi: You're a hitman but you help people. Tsuzuru: I only did the right thing. I don't want to lose someone as capable as you. Izumi: I have to work hard then.

Choice 2: "It's no big deal" Izumi: I-it's no big deal. Tsuzuru: How cheeky. ....Rather, what I wanted to say is... You can leave it to me. I will stake my life to protect you. Izumi: ---! ( I know it's just acting but hearing him say it so lightly is too bad for my heart....)

Tsuzuru: You'll be shot right away if you space out like that. Izumi: I, I got it! (This is the result of Tsuzuru-kun's role study... It only shows how hard he worked for it)

Izumi: --! ----*pow* Hit! I got hit~.... It's such a shame but it can't be helped. Tasuku: Good work. Juza: Good work. Izumi: Eh? Both of you got hit too? Tasuku: They caught me off guard. Izumi: Same with me. Juza: Someone who looks like Settsu got me. Izumi: Ahahah..... ( I'm pretty sure Juza went up neck and neck against the enemy) Tsuzuru: ---! ---*Boom* Izumi: Woah, Tsuzuru-kun is almost there...! (He'll get the flag in no time....!) Juza: 's quite amazing. Tasuku: He's surrounded by enemies but it's going to be our win if he grabs that flag. Tsuzuru: I'll give it to you for surviving this far... You're quite formidable-- ----*Boom* But I'm sorry, that flag is mine!

Juza: …..Amazing. Tasuku: We can win if he keeps going like this ! Izumi: T-that was close! Tsuzuru: .....! ----*clack* E-eh? Juza: Tsuzuru-san? Izumi: Don't tell me.... Tasuku: Did he run out of ammo? ----*pow* Tsuzuru: ....! Hit!

Tsuzuru: Ugh.... Juza: Good work. Tasuku: You were almost there. Izumi: You got fairly good results. Tsuzuru: It's a shame to think that I almost made it. I should have done better. Tasuku: It's so like you to say such things.  

1)WinEle is a parody of Winning Eleven, a popular football simulation game.

2) Period is intended here ^^

[deus-ex-mona]

Hello!

Ummmmm so I recently saw one of the posts you made... the one of Watashi Idol Sengen! And it had Mona's actual voice saying the panels and stuff! So, please (!) tell me where I can get that!!!!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🥺

Oh and thank you so so so much for translating the other honeyworks novels and stuff! Especially the LOVE&KISS novel!!! I've wanted to read that for ages!!!!!!! ଘ(੭´꒳`)°* ੈ‧₊˚

hi!!

the voiced watashi idol sengen vids are from the bluray that comes with the limited edition of mona’s album! only the first 3 chapters of the piccoma release (aka the equivalent of the first chapter of the volume release) are voiced though~

and auauauaaa don’t thank me for tling the novels, i haven’t tled them all that much, really! and fantasia love&kiss was tled by liddi, not me, so the credits for that goes to them~~~~

thanks for your ask!!!!!

[spark-translations]

Translation: Wonderlands x Showtime Main Story Ch. 8 [Form! Show Unit!]

Translation under the cut!

Tsukasa’s Room

Tsukasa: ...And here, I appear like ‘boom’. Yes! That’s some good development.

Saki: Big brother, are you writing a new play?

Tsukasa: Ah. I’m going to do a show soon. I’ve taken it upon myself to write the script for it.

Saki: I didn’t know that! When is it? I want to go watch it ♪

Tsukasa: We plan to do it during the afternoon of the first day of the long weekend.

Saki: Ah! It’s my shift for my part-time job that day~ What a shame...

Tsukasa: Ah, I remember you started working part-time at a cafe. I also heard you joined a club... are you feeling alright?

Saki: Yep! I’m totally fine!

Saki: ...But I should try not to get too excited. I can’t make everyone worry again...

Tsukasa: Saki...

Tsukasa: “I am Prince Pegasus!”

Saki: Wha... big brother!?

Tsukasa: “My travels to defeat the Demon King have just begun! I’m sure I will face challenges. But beyond them lies... hope!”

Tsukasa: “Because I believe in it, I can press on fearlessly!”

Saki: ...! Fufu. Thanks, big brother.

Saki: Big brother always showed me a lot of shows, ever since we were young.

Saki: Ah, before, you always used my stuffed animals as characters. Remember? Like that bunny stuffed animal.

Tsukasa: Bunny stuffed animal? I guess there was one...?

Saki: We used it so much that it was in pretty bad shape by the end, but it was so much fun.

Saki: Big brother, good luck with this show! When I see my big brother working hard, it gives me energy!

Tsukasa: Ah! You can be sure to expect a lot from me!

The Next Day

Wonder Stage

Tsukasa: Everyone! I finished the script! For our show, we’ll be doing this.

Rui: Tsukasa-kun wrote it?

Tsukasa: Ah, that’s right. It’s a work worthy of having me, a star, perform it!

Nenerobo: “Hm. So we’ll learn what level your brain is at once we read the script?”

Tsukasa: Tch... you robot that keeps on picking on me...! I won’t explain it to you if the script is too high-level for you to understand!

Nenerobo: “If you explain it to me, I think I’d get even more confused.”

Emu: Those two get along so well~ ♪

Rui: Mhm. Their conversation is on the same level.

Tsukasa: That’s right! I have something else important to announce.

Emu: Something important? What is it, what is it?

Tsukasa: It’s our troupe name! If we’re doing shows, we need a troupe name, don’t we?

Rui: You’re right. And what’s the name?

Tsukasa: The name is... “Theater Troupe Pegasus ☆ In the Sky”!!

Nenerobo: “...Lame.”

Tsukasa: L... lame!?

Tsukasa: What’s lame about that name? What other name sparkles with such naming sense!

Rui: Why is it lame... huh. It’s hard to analyze. But if I were to say it in one word—

Nenerobo: “It’s just lame.”

Rui: That.

Tsukasa: About something that someone worked hard to think of!! Then do you have an idea!?

Rui: Let’s see... Emu-kun, what name do you want?

Emu: Mm~. The sunny sunny power of the sun’s world ♪ or the crunchy flower poof* of the flower field’s world☆?

Nenerobo: “...An educational TV show?”

Tsukasa: Anyways, why “world”?

Emu: The Wonder Stage becomes different worlds depending on the show!

Emu: Like the jungle world, or the world above the clouds, or the world of primitive humans, or the world where aliens exist!

Emu: It’s a wonderland that can turn into any world! That’s why everyone smiles when it’s time for the show ☆

Rui: Hm... Then isn’t that a good idea?

Tsukasa: Mm?

Rui: You want people to spend a wonderful time in the wonderland this stage creates, yes? How about thinking of a name that has those feelings packed into it?

Emu: Mm... in the wonderland... wonderful time...

Nenerobo: “Time... Like showtime, maybe? If you stick them together, it’s Wonderland Showtime... I think.”

Emu: Wah! That’s cool! I’m gonna write it on the script’s cover ♪

Tsukasa: Ah, wait! Theater Troupe Pegasus ☆ In the Sky is obviously...

Emu: Done! “Wonderlands x Showtime!”

Tsukasa: ...What’s this “X”? Also, why is it “Wonderlands”? It should be “Wonderland”!**

Emu: The “X” is to multiply ♪ Because the more shows we do, the more wonderlands we create!

Emu: And it’s “Wonderlands” because... it sounds cool!

Tsukasa: L-look here...

Nenerobo: “Hm. Well, it’s actually not that bad.”

Rui: Yes. I don’t mind it either. It’s important to go with what your intuition tells you.

Tsukasa: Urgh... Hah... I’ll allow it. What’s important is the plot of the show.

Tsukasa: Our name’s decided now - let’s do our best!

Emu: Yep! Let’s do this! Ooh ☆

Notes:

*I genuinely have no idea what ‘hanapon’ (what I tled as flower poof) is. I decided to combine ‘hana’ and ‘pon’, but it’s probably not correct dksflsd I did some searching for hanapon and nothing came up except for 鼻ぽん, which seem to be absorbent things you shove up your nose when you have a nosebleed, runny nose, etc. And I don’t see Emu really saying that? If anybody knows what this is about, please tell me.. 

**The original japanese text is Tsukasa asking why Emu wrote it as ショウ rather than ショー. They make roughly the same sound (shou vs sho��), but the second one is what you would write ‘show’ as. This was changed to make sense translated.

previous + next

[femgirlfriend-moved]

btw sorry i keep talking about this but i just finished the last translated chapter of TA and. i seriously get what you mean about characterization. like both of them grow up and develop so much and im so satisfied with plot progression and how the relationships between different characters are handled. now that i have to wait for the next chapter im going crazy (real) truly obsessed w this novel t_t

YESSS YES EXACTLY I KNOW DMMSMSMAMSJ god it's so good it's like the more you think about it the better it gets there's so many hints about the characters internal changes it flows so well it makes me insane. like yws's whole character arc makes me rabid everytime i think about it it's so subtle and well delivered. might not seem at first but if you pay attention as u read it's like actually so good. i read it before the last chapters were getting properly tled so i read thru that terrible translation but it still churned my soul to no end...... i think there's like only 10 chaps left plus extras and they get released p quickly so ur in luck. im so happy u like it too cos i feel like it's such an underrated novel and it's like actually one of the best no joke.........

[three--rings]

TGCF Not Liveblog

So I finished reading Tian Guan Ci Fu.  I realize the last time I updated my liveblog I was in Book 3.  Oops.

What happened is I tore through Book Four in like two long reading session, somewhat realizing that the need to write reaction posts was slowing me down, then I put it down for a while again and then I’ve been working on Book five for the last week.  Last night I tried to go to bed but couldn’t sleep, so I decided to read some, hoping it was going to put me to sleep, but instead I stayed up WAY late (or rather EARLY) and finished it.

I don’t even know what to say.  I enjoyed it, mostly.  I feel, actually, kinda like I did the first time I finished reading MDZS, in that I really like the main characters and the romance and feel a little flat about everything else.  Although with MDZS I was more impressed with the plot reveals (especially the golden core reveal and how that changed the whole story.) 

My problems with TGCF are that I just never really connected to or liked the characters that weren’t Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.  They are also sorta comic characters, characatures so to speak and so didn’t end up feeling very real to me.  It’s ENTIRELY possible I will feel differently once I experience them through another medium, because that definitely happened with MDZS. 

So a lot of the narrative I was left sorta...either confused, because I wasn’t entirely sure who anyone was or didn’t remember what had happened before.  Or it was a lot of action, which I don’t really ever care for reading. 

I really needed footnotes on this book, just to remind me who everyone was and when we last saw them.  Like, there’s something I read last night that referenced a verbal exchange between Xie Lian and MU Qing and...I don’t have any idea what that was about. That was MONTHS ago that I read that.  What did they say, dammit? 

And just generally there’s something that seems to happen for me with MXTX novels and I don’t know if it’s her writing or the translation but I feel like it’s very flat and I don’t get very emotionally involved.

EXCEPT for the main characters.  Because I ADORE Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.  And OMG. 

Before I cut to spoilers, I will say that I expected it to be much angsty-er.  Like TGCF just has that reputation, maybe from everyone screaming around certain parts of Book 4 or that one part of Book 5 when it was being posted/TLed.  But honestly...eh?  It wasn’t that bad.  Like, there’s a few very heavy scenes but mostly it’s very light, honestly.  It’s really nothing to a lot of fanfic out there.  So if that has kept you away, it really shouldn’t.

ANYWAY, so yeah, maybe I wasn’t as affected by all the terrible shit that happens to XL as others.  I know the big angst scene is obviously him being stabbed by all the people in the Temple, but it was so...kinda weird that I didn’t really feel it.  Now in a dramatized adaptation I might cry my eyes out.  Fair.  But on the page it was just kinda...yeah, ouch.

But on the other hand, the part that hit harder than I expected was the end where Hua Cheng fades away.  I was semi-spoiled because I’ve seen art of that scene like a BUNCH, but didn’t know where it happened or the context.  So it was actually very moving and sad, even though I trusted he WOULD be back. 

I do really like their story, the kind of devoted love from a distance over a long time.  Unconditional love forever.  Unlike someone else I saw talking recently I don’t find it unrealistic or just a “fantasy” of what love is.  I...well, the thing is that I HAVE someone who loves me like that and have for over 20 years.  I don’t know why, honestly, and certainly our relationship hasn’t been perfect always.  He’s not perfect and lord knows I’m not, but if there’s one thing in the world I have confidence in, it’s his love.  So, yeah, I have Feelings about Hua Cheng in particular. 

But not much else to say about this book atm.  Very glad I read it and glad to be done with it because I have a lot of other stuff to read.  Including the manhua to date which I’ve avoided for fear of spoilers.  And super, super looking forward to the donghua.

[luciahunter6]

Favourite moments of 2018

Just before the year closes out, I thought I’ll run through my best moments of 2018. Here they are in chronological order:

End January: Extensive 4-day Numazu pilgrimage. This wasn’t my first trip down here, but it was my first one after they introduced the stamp rally. Also, it was the longest I ever stayed down there. Freezing my ass off on the cold Senbonhama beach, visiting Mission Bay for their fluffy pancakes, a whole lot of cycling until my butt hurt. It was a genuinely relaxing experience after a stressful event I helped organize, the town’s vibe is really just soothing when you’re into LL. 

Early Feb: Taiwan for Aqours Fan Meeting. I never thought I would fly to one of the East Asian countries just for a Fan Meeting level of event, but I absolutely did not regret this one at all. Excellent production value, superb selection of fan-letters, questions and mini-games, as well as a really great team of translators that TLed and retained nuances of their sentences and jokes without delay. My seats were plenty decent so it was a good view, and I also distinctly remember all the fan projects they set up. I was awed by the love of the local fan community, they’re good people. Also I’ve never been to Taiwan before so it was a good experience seeing new things. There was also a post-apocalyptic vibe in the night cityscape after the rain which I have fond memories of.

Mid May: Running into Wendy online over Discord again after 4-5 years apart? This seems like a weird thing to include here but basically back in the day when we were into Love Live!, we were both authors who would talk about our fics. And then subsequently she invited me into a LisaYuki server where I’ve met some really great people- people I’m not close to by any means, but they still show me more support than I deserve. All in all, I’m really grateful for this chance encounter for all the wonderful people I’m thankful to have met. Mid May: BanG Dream! 5th Live. This isn’t a good moment, but a painful one. I’ve talked a lot about how my planning for 5L DV started since last year, but this was one of the first moments that actually cemented my personal, emotional commitment to it. I cried a lot during this period after watching the videos, even if I hadn’t been following them beforehand. I’m still not sure why. I guess this was when I truly became fully devoted. This might also be the first time I acknowledged and put into words just what I had been doing up to that point: my personal mission to show other people the dreams that I was once shown.

Early-Mid June: Aqours 3rd Live trip. This was a hurricane trip starting with 3L Saitama, /r/LL offkai, a Numazu pilgrimage and then 3L Osaka. I really loved staying at Awashima Hotel- with a suite split between four people, it’s honestly not that bad price-wise. Having cars for us to do our pilgrimage was also pretty cool, I got to hit up spots I never would’ve been able to do otherwise, such as that mountain-top parking lot. 3L Osaka was also decently good, definitely better than Saitama. I mean overall 3L was pretty bad setlist-wise, but at least the experience was improved. But my favourite memory of 3L Osaka was our two Airbnbs: I was staying at ONIBE Airbnb on one end, and Whales Airbnb was a 5-minute walk away. On the last night, most of us just crammed around the Whales’ dining table and talked for a couple of hours. I was distinctly struck by the feeling of this Sado concept, 一期一会 (lit. One chance, one meeting). Every single meetup is precious, every moment is once in a lifetime. I love these people, and times like this is when I realise how insanely cool it is that such a connection can happen between people from such diverse walks of life around the world. That’s the power of our hobby.

Early August: BanG Dream! 5L DV in SG, Japan Park. The moment of catharsis here was real, watching everything come to fruition after a lengthy struggle. This was definitely my most impressionable moment and my achievement of the year. Finally being able to set that burden down was such an impossible relief. And the gifts and fan messages I received- irreplaceable. There were many things that could’ve gone wrong along the way, but were fine thanks to support and guidance from the people around me. Given the chance, I would like to challenge myself in similar ways in the future to see where I can further improve.

Mid September: Roselia Fan Meeting. I had committed to this one shortly after hearing about Akesan’s graduation. After being unable to attend 5L, I knew I didn’t want to sit by idly and be unable to witness this happening all over again. And thankfully, I made it into the night session with my own code from my own CD (my 3 donated ones failed heh). Night also kindly provided me with a ticket for the day session, so I was able to attend both. This was actually my first time witnessing a Roselia performance live. I still remember the excellent pacing of the sessions, and the fun questions and fanmail. And the live segments- watching Yukki’s performance was the first time I was truly able to accept her as Lisa in my eyes. Seeing them perform was amazing. Of course, those hand-written messages during the end of the night session, which caused literally everyone to break down aside from Akesan. And their final appearance back on stage as a band of four, asking for permission to turn their next event into a live performance. It was one of Roselia’s most powerful moments that I was grateful to have witnessed first-hand.

Early November: Writing my first fanfic in years. This is a minor one but something else I’m proud of. Writing a new piece was one of my goals for 2017 that I hadn’t been able to complete. I was glad I could do this again in 2018 with the help of Bandori.

Early November: Roselia Live Vier. Specifically, the reveal of Shizaki Kanon for the encore. Even though I knew what was coming beforehand, I was caught up in the hype: there was a seriously epic moment when the audience realised what they were in for as her back appeared in the pre-encore video. The noise went off the charts, and it only went even crazier as the staff came out onto stage to wheel the drums to one side. Absolutely lovely production.

Mid November: CharaExpo USA. Another insane rush with the costume project. This was honestly one of the most stressful things I had to do, almost as difficult as Japan Park & 5L DVs. But we pulled through together in the end, as a team, as a community. Of course, finally being able to meet a whole bunch of people I’ve been waiting to meet was amazing as well. And the fan messages I got, which I was really thankful for- they give me the courage to keep pushing on, to do what’s best for everyone. And oh, that moment when Nonchan made her surprise appearance on stage as well. I made sure I was there to witness the crowd’s reaction from the back and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Was even crazier than Vier’s audience, honestly.

Early December: BanG Dream! 6L Day 1: Brave New World by RAISE A SUILEN. Sneaking in just at the end of the year, RAS's live was a surprising contender for memorable moments of the year. I’ve always liked Electronic and House music, but damn, that was a show alright. A DECLARATION OF XXX was impossibly hyped on site. I can’t wait for them to release it.

Overall, a lot of things might have changed in my life, but I feel like the most visible changes were in the last few months.

It might have been the release from a lot of stress, having been working towards JPSG and BD 5L DVs. Or maybe it was having those exact things under my belt, having actual experience that gave me a little bit more confidence. Having been through all these things gives me not only precious memories in the past, but also more certainty in knowing what I am doing.

Honestly, 2018 has been a really good year to me, a pleasant change from the shitfest that was the year before. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that were given to me, all the awesome people I met along the way, and all the challenges that I was able to conquer.

I hope 2019 will be a good year for us all, too.

[amypca]

GCOP200: NOTHING IS ORIGINAL AND THATS OK.

AIMS FOR TODAY –

·         The concept of originality.

·         The concept of copy.

·         The terms of appropriation and Pastiche

Providing a Layout map for my plan.

THE OVERVIEW

1) INTRODUCE

2) THE OPENING ‘HOOK’

3) JUSTIFYING YOUR TOPIC

4) THEORY - WALTER BENJAMIN

5) CASE STUDY- ARTIST SHERRY LEVINE AND

RICHARD RAUSCHENBERG

6) WE WILL FINISH WITH A HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE

TED TALK BY AUSTIN KLEON ENTITLED

‘STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST’ TO PUT ALL OUR

MINDS AT REST!

7) THE CONCLUSION WILL BE UP TO YOU!

 What Is Originality?

To me this means the concept of being or doing something that is completely new, being the first to try/do something.

 Should we try and Peruse Originality?

Of Course, being original can take you on a path to being a new person, it can alter the work you do and what others think of you.

 Does Originality Exist?

In todays age it is rare, but that does not mean it is void, there is always room to explore new things.

 If so what does it look like?

Inventors are full of originality, they need to think of brand-new ideas and products. A great artist is full of originality, especially when coming up with new and surprising types of art. If something is just like other things, it shows no originality. To me being a great inventor means discovering new everyday and making it original in my own way.

 THE GUY AS CONMAN –

Angst. (Portrait of the Artist) (1971)Arnolf Rainer.

This image/art is something that took my interest as it shows the two dimensions colliding into one image. I am fond of this due to working on something similar in the past and enjoyed it as experimentation.

Rainer's style evolved towards Destruction of Forms, with blackenings, overpaintings, and maskings of illustrations and photographs dominating his later work. He was close to the Vienna Actionism, featuring body art and painting under the influence of drugs. He painted extensively on the subject of Hiroshima such as it relates to the nuclear bombing of the Japanese city and the inherent political and physical fallout.

 Definition of Terms

Appropriation

This is when something is made almost blurred to fit into society’s standard of what is ‘normal’. If I put work out there that is going to cause controversy, it will be frowned upon by everyone else.

Appropriation Art VS Forgery

I think forgery is only okay when it is highlighting someone else’s work. If it is claiming it as your own, then it is wrong.

 Historical Context.

Apprenticeship

The practice of coping someone else’s artwork.

To copy old masters has traditionally been key to the artists training.

 Historical Context 2

“Picasso and his companion Fernande Olivier spent the summer of 1909 in the Catalan village of Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan). Over a period of several months, Picasso produced an extensive series of female heads and standing and seated nudes, of which this is the culminating image. Although Fernande’s features inspired him, none of these images is a portrait in the traditional sense, and rarely is her name mentioned in the titles. Picasso no longer needed to work from a live model; instead, the female figure became a means of experimenting with form.”

 To Contextualise: To Define

Appropriation refers to the act of borrowing or reusing existing elements within a new work. Post-modern appropriation artists, including Barbara Kruger, are keen to deny the notion of ‘originality’.

Pastiche, Parody, and the Remake

 Postmodernism has been characterized by a kind of fatigue

with the new and the sense that everything has been done before.

Postmodernism asks: Can there ever be new ideas and images,

things that have not been thought of or done before? Does it matter?

The world of images today consists of a huge variety of remakes,

copies, parodies, replicas, reproductions, and remixes. In the

arenas of art and architecture, as well as popular culture, the idea of

an original image or form seems to have been thoroughly subverted.

Sherrie Lavine

Artist Sherrie Levine made a series of works in the 1980s that are emblematic of this kind of postmodernism pilfering and borrowing that questions ownership and the original. Levine simply rephotographed famous images-in blatant violation of their copyright, the signifier of authorship and authenticity-and displayed them as her own. In After Edward Weston (#2), Levine rephotographed Weston's famous image of his son, Neil, enti- tled Torso of Neil {1925). Weston's image is situated in a long history of male nudes, which Levine's "theft" disrupts precisely because it is explicitly presented as copied, rather than concealing its status as a copy.

Walter Benjamin

“Walter Benjamin's importance as a philosopher and critical theorist can be gauged by the diversity of his intellectual influence and the continuing productivity of his thought. Primarily regarded as a literary critic and essayist, the philosophical basis of Benjamin's writings is increasingly acknowledged. They were a decisive influence upon Theodor W. Adorno's conception of philosophy's actuality or adequacy to the present (Adorno 1931). In the 1930s, Benjamin's efforts to develop a politically oriented, materialist aesthetic theory proved an important stimulus for both the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory and the Marxist poet and dramatist Bertolt Brecht.” - First published Tue Jan 18, 2011

My Own Practice.

Conclusion.

·         Recapping.

·         Evaluation.

·         Any more for later?

·         The finishing touches.

 What do You make?

I chose to make photographs that bring a sense of nostalgia in a soft calming way. I like to remind people of their youth by creating conceptual story telling in my images.

My Task

Find relevant work in my discipline?

My work for my discipline is in my book making, by creating and sowing the spines of the books I had to look at others work and copy in order to make mine look good. I could explore this more by improving my technique and trying again. 

 LINKS –

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/arnulf-rainer-1813

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490587

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/benjamin/