#we got Chen vs Swire

[chenswire]

overdue Episode 11 post

basically the chenswire part of my stupidly long twitter thread covering ep 11 with more delusional thoughts and I ended up TLing their last scene in CN I guess (scroll to bottom) i wish i had the energy to make 1morbillion gifs but i do not so.. Excerpts from my 200 image screenshot folder it is

So the ep starts off with a super pensive Swire which was very cute when will my wife return from the war energy

And then she breaks out into a super un-ladylike run whaddahell!!!! this sequence was sooo well drawn wtf. handsome

(Something here about how people were joking this part is summer chen because they call chummer 水陈 'water chen')

I like how relaxed the atmosphere was like this definitely isn't the first time something like this has happened, well I mean after all they are Professional Co-workers who do not fight 24/7 (they get into an argument immediately after)

When they break eye contact to turn towards Hoshiguma they basically don't meet each other's gazes again as they take turns to glare at each other its insane... Also Swire saying she should take over and Chen needs treatment... Chen you understand what that means right...

Another detail I love is how at the start they already show her battered jacket/clothes for us gamers to point at the screen and then later who those who don't know/didn't notice we have a whole close up of chen reacting to it...man.jpg And swire leaving right away once she knows chen is fine (and one of her good points. lol. lmao) you guys are sure so quick

Link to CN version of the PUUK GAI LUNG in Paci Plaza I love how she's like 'Chen you stay right there' at the end like she's going to idk fly over ASAP to whack her (as opposed to just 'hey, chen!')

Here's a clip of the last scene with CN dub because not only do we get 'ah chen' it just hits so different...

Hi~ Still there, Miss Ah Chen? Ah? What d'you mean by ah, huh? Aren't you a Dai Siu Ze too? Enough of that, don't you have something to tell me? What happened at Paci Plaza… I'll make sure to sort it all out and file for damages later.

Had a feeling they would go with the JP loc's 'aren't you an ojou too' since you know, anime, but keeping the 'ah chen' and that 阿什么阿 response the unparalleled casualness

You… Remember the Cha Chaan Teng at Sheung Wan? Trying to change the subject? The one near the LGD HQ, right? I used to stop by there on my patrols sometimes. Let me treat you to something there next time. Hmm~ If we go there… I want a steak tomato and egg burger! Wait, no! Like hell I'd want you to treat me to a meal!

the longer pause after 'you...' like she was considering something else before she decided to go with her 茶餐厅 MENTION!!!!! gives this a whole different flavour... chen outright offering the meal instead of swire guessing??? THE WARM SMILE CLOSE UP i feel like im intruding on something

Then send your bill to Chief Wei. I'm hanging up. Wait, don't hang up just yet! I heard you ran straight out of Rhodes Island in the end. What are you planning? Weren't you looking for their help? Ugh, stay down! Take a nap over there! You sure sound busy. Guess I should hang up. Tch… I'm not done speaking with you yet. Was leaving the little bunny (and the others) over there weighing on your mind? Well, whatever. (We'll just do this) Just let me help you clean up the mess over here.

It just sounds so much more casual in CN than the JP dub (which is excellent ofc) >let me do it for you instead of 'ill do it' (head in hands)

the opposite lighting and angle and chen looking away vs swire looking straight #KINO

Don't talk like you understand me very well, Miss S. Enough!!! How many times have I told you not to call me that!! Got it, got it.

You don't seem to get it, so I'll be nice today and explain it to you. Life is extremely precious. You're always risking your life chasing what's right in front of you. Stop doing that. Got that? Your advice… I'll take it.

That exasperated 'Enough!!!' i (turns into a plane and flies away) and the last line... it as 'thanks for the advice' which technically isn't wrong but you know the nuance of uh. kind of, almost, somewhat, accepting a... confession... (of her concern ofc) also CN chen lets swire finish speaking instead of interrupting which hehe... like i said..the flavour hits different. also that subtle movement as chen like eases in more and more between those lines aaaghhhhhhhhhh

their earlier argument was so explosive and quick, but now their banter is so tender and slow like bruh. what. even the act of chen putting down her sword to sit down in a comfortable position (loved that she sat like that One leg sitters rise up!!!) was so ??? the normally yolo speedrunner chen being so leisurely like damn. ok. ok. From 'you think you can order me around' to basically agreeing to an order (Londinium cannon vine boom) I thought Chen being this warm was more or less a delusion that I inferred through in game as subtext (since in game her expression then is usually like her default rbf face...) and seeing it here as 'text' in the show is like 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 holy shit can't believe i got FED after four years incidentally i've been obsessed with a certain CN writer's fics lately because the way they write chen like a sad wet dog while showing warmth is crazyyy maybe i will blog about it next time because i was legit taking notes lmao

[bentosandbox]

hell yea comics. 10, 23, 30, 40, 41 if you like

10. How do you decide what to write?

A little parasite in my brain says hmm today i will do thing and i just roll with the cringe

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

omegaverse i think it'd be extra fun when it's 2 emotionally constipated office workers vs a pairing like texlapp whoa who said that does 'daydreamed and doodled a bit but didn't start on anything solid yet' count as never written if yes its then wuxia AU where chen and lin switch places kinda (basically want to extrapolate that part in chen's op rec where the rat king invited her underground)

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

this chen and hoshi one technically but also the chen and swire one that i still havent posted in english so sorryyyyy (i wrote them at the same time iirc.. just didnt have time to draw the second one until later)

first time i forced myself to write internal monologues AND angst in an actual script on google docs instead of just dumping lines i want characters to say in my own discord server channel shoutout to my friend who gassed me up with the comments they left on the doc lmao 'damn i wanna make the angsty af introspective comics i always see' > 'wait damn i have to make it myself fawjkkkkkkkk'

idk if it affected my approach because the Very Serious chen and Lin character study comic i had planned ended up being a shitposty copybook so i went back to my old style of smashing dialogue in a notepad (if the anon that sent the ask about this comic sees this sorry i got cold feet and i still havent exported it out of my tablet)

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

we don't have a choice do we...

i did just reread the fic i mention below tehe i do reread CN fics way more because sometimes ill be lazy and read it through machine translate while other times i'll sit down and try to translate it (in my head) while EN fics have an easier time searing into my mind

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

its not cheating right

fr tho to write fever dream-esque(?) scenarios that end in girlfail...!!

ok the chenswire one aside the nearl one is also a favourite something about looking at the tired human through the chinks in the infallible knight's armor

[johannstutt413]

TOURNAMENT ARC 1: CH’EN vs SWIRE

“Now, Miss Ch’en, I can understand wanting to be sure the bracket is fair for yourself and your opponent,” Jessica was explaining to the Lung who’d made a beeline for the Doctor’s office not too long after the announcement was made, “but the Doctor and I aren’t in charge of the bracket-”

“You know who is, though. Give me a fight with that bag-stealing money-grubbing fat-cat layabout Round 1.”

Normally, this would be enough to cow the Feline, but the Doctor was with her and this big-shot was being unreasonable, so she felt a certain amount of power she wasn’t used to having. “Miss Ch’en, you may be one of Rhodes Island’s highest-promoted Operators, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to talk like-”

“Hey, Jess?” The Doctor showed them both the bracket. “It says ‘Swire vs Ch’en’ is Fight 1.”

“O-oh!...That’s convenient.” The Sniper turned back to the Guard with a nervous smile.

In exchange, she received a curt nod. “Good. I hope the audience will appreciate a good thrashing.”

“...I think the best part,” the Doctor continued when the Lung had left, “is that out of the people we could put her against, Swire’s actually got one of the best chances of making the fight interesting. Maybe not long, but interesting.”

“W-why’s that, Doctor?” Still a little shaken after that encounter, the nervous Feline retreated into her brave boss’s arms.

He kissed her forehead with a smile. “Well, my courageous kitty-kat, it’s about their relationship. See, a lot of people - Miss Ch’en included - think that Miss Hoshiguma is a tough woman who likes her women tough, and maybe at some level that’s true. From what I’ve seen, though, she’s more of a case of ‘opposites attract,’ and Miss Swire seems to have figured that out, too. What Miss Ch’en wants this to be is a battle for Miss Hoshi’s affections, but if I’m honest? I think she’s already lost that fight. Not that she won’t use everything within her power to beat Miss Swire, of course.”

“That m-makes sense.” Jessica looked up at him. “So Miss Swire isn’t tough?”

“I wouldn’t say that-”

At the moment, the Feline in question stormed into the office. “Doctor!”

“You’re fighting her Round 1,” he replied. She immediately turned around and left. “Like I said, it’s not that she’s not tough. People just overlook it because she’s a fluffy girl’s girl, but she swings that crescent hammer like a truck when she wants to.”

“Her hair is really fluffy...Do you think I’d look good with hair like that, Doctor?” She pressed lightly against her ponytail.

The Doctor chuckled, squeezing her just a little closer. “I think you’re perfect juuuuuust the way you are, but you’d look good with fluffy hair, too. Although, if you get much cuter...”

-------

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Operators, Staff, and Esteemed Guests! Welcome one and all to the Top Operator Tourney!!! *crowd cheers*

“Thanks, Hung. Ladies and gentlemen, for anyone out there who doesn’t recognize my voice, I’m Click, and joining me in the booth today is the Iron Fist herself, FEater!”

“That’s right, Click, and today we’ll be giving you folks watching at home or in the office the blow-by-blow breakdown of what promises to be a real battle of wills! On the north side, with over 4 years of experience cleaning up the streets of Lungmen with her trusty blade, it’s Madame Ch’en!” *cheers* “And on the south side- hey, Click, babe, calm down, she’s in the ring, not us - it’s Miss Swire!” *more cheers, including one very loud Oni*

“Sorry about that! Let’s look at the numbers, shall we? According to the objective measurements of our Medical Department and the Operator Training Team, Ch’en has a commanding lead in terms of both raw power and experience, especially if she can manage to convince that blade of hers to unleash its full potential for this fight, but despite the disparity, Miss Sw-Swire has one thing going for her: the reach on that ball of pain she’s got in her hands! It’s kind of hard to imagine someone so scrawny throwing that around with enough force to knock a person on their ass, but as everyone knows, Felines don’t care what you think about physics, so she finds a way somehow even so!”

“Uh, right! Thanks for that breakdown, Click. Alright, so back down in the arena proper, the Doctor has taken his position in the umpire’s stand, surrounded by an even crazier number of camera feeds than normal. Seriously, he’s around more cameras than me and Click combined! It’s crazy! He’s counting down now - chant along, guys! 3! 2!1! And here we go!!!!”

“Now, one problem we’re likely to see for Ch’en early is actually getting to Swire-Sama in the first place, as her Feline instinct and predatory cunning in conjunction with her death-ball are going to make closing the gap pretty diffi- Just like that! A solid hit from Swire-Sama into Ch’en chest!”

“I hope her Lungs are strong enough to withstand that kind of hit, Click...Aww, come on, you know you still love me~ The follow-up isn’t entirely there, though, as Swire struggles to swing back around in time to hit her while she’s down. Oh, and Ch’en now running her down in a clockwise spiral, following the crescent hammer’s trajectory and actually closing in! Oof, that’s gonna leave a nasty scar - or at least it would,” “One, two, three” “-if our sponsors in the Medical Department weren’t totally going to fix that once they’re done here!”

“-Seven, eight, nine slashes, and she’s still standing?! Hang on, what is...Is she even hitting with those?”

“Looks like she’s just tormenting her, Click.”

“I know Felines will play with their food, but this is something else! Oh, and the Doctor is calling for the bout to e- OH MY GOD!”

“Swire just punched her in the face! No claws, no knuckledusters, just a single punch to the face in an infinitesimal break in the wall of sword strokes being put up by Lungmen’s former Chief Inspector! That wasn’t nearly enough to knock the breath out of the Lung, of course- hey, I thought that one was pretty good! - but it’s enough to give Swire some time to think through her next move.”

“And it’s looking like she’ll...wait, when did she get a drone out there?”

“She’s using it to blast Lungmen rap songs?! Shit, we might get demonetized if she keeps this up, right?”

“Nah, we’re hosting it on our private network, and our only sponsors are us any- And Ch’en just vanished!”

“No, she’s still on the field, just moving too fast to see with our eyes! There’s a cloud of blood forming around the pair now th- OH MY GAAAAAAA-”

“Holy shit. Medics! The Doctor’s hurriedly calling an end to this fight to try and determine a winner before one of these two actually finishes the job on the other!”

“If this is the level of action we’re gonna be seeing in these fights, ladies and gentlemen, then the front few rows miiiiight wanna invest in some kind of rain gear - like, say, the splash guards currently on sale at Closure’s for over 40% off!”

“And as the dust settles, Madame Ch’en is walking off the field with an easy victory. Wowza, that’s looking...that’s looking pretty bag. Oh, hey, that’s Hoshiguma coming down into the arena, I wonder if- whoa! Babe, she just punched Ch’en in the face! Maaaan, it’s a shame we won’t ever get to see that fight, huh?”

-------

Hoshiguma flicked the blood from Ch’en’s nose off her fist as she approached where the Medics were tending to Swire. “How’s she doing?”

“We’ve got her stable,” Warfarin reported, “and between the emergency coagulants and regeneration stimulants, she should be able to stand on her own power before the end of the night...Nothing too heavy until at least 48 hours have passed, though.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Can I talk to her?”

The Sarkaz sighed. “There’s no way she’s still con-”

“Hoshiiii?” Swire’s voice wheezed from some other dimension; within seconds, the Oni was at her side. “Hoshi...Sorry.”

“Sorry? Why are you apologizing? You did great out there.” The Defender took her hand gently in both of hers, letting a tear fall from her face at the sight of her girlfriend in such pain.

The Feline shook her head, which Aak grimaced at and set to work immobilizing her further. “I lost...I can’t see you anymore.”

“What? Why not?” Hoshi kissed her head, causing even more distress to the Medics in the process. “I don’t like her; I love you.”

“...Oh, Hoshi~”

Warfarin tapped the Oni on her shoulder. “I’m afraid visitor hours are closing; we need to move her somewhere not covered in her own blood.”

“I’ll go with you.” She waited for the folks carrying her girlfriend out to have her situated before following them out. ‘Thinking she could beat my Fluffy Cuddles in a fight and claim me like a trophy wife...I’m no one’s prize, damnit, I’m a prize fighter. I hope she wins her bracket, so I can give her a proper beating when I win mine.’

“...You know, if it was that easy, she probably wouldn’t have waited for the tournament,” a shadowy figure observed aloud as they walked past her in the opposite direction. Hoshi turned to confront them-

-but it was like they were never there...nothing but a Phantom of her imagination...