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nohr-and-thirst · 10 months

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infodump more about welt suffering and welt in general. please?

I've played quite a bit of HI3 and have been playing HSR, which made me finally interested in welt. the gravitas of his eng VA's voice his chef's kiss - I think he's one of the few characters who doesn't sound like "I'm reading this from a paper in a studio" in english - and I dig his design and powers. but what side material do I actually read to get welt lore? there's so much manga and I've only seen screenshots

ASK ABOUT WELT AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!

Quick side topic about his English VA. I love how it fits Welt so well, in my opinion. I play Impact 3rd with CN dub, but for Star Rail he doesn’t have the same CN voice actor so it threw me off at first, but I gotten use to it after I tried to stop associating with another Impact 3rd VA.

I am putting this here already, this is gonna be very short explanation. Is this post short? No absolutely not, but I’m trying to cut details to try and make it short as I can and have it make sense.

Let us start off with some basic information about Welt Yang and now he inherited the name plus the Herrscher of Reason core.

Before there was Welt Yang, there was Welt Joyce, the first Herrscher of Reason. Sadly Impact 3rd does not explore much of Joyce, and most of the information on him, Otto, Anti-Entropy, and even about Tesla and Einstein is all a Visual Novel that never got a true English translation. However, it did get fan translations and oh goodness it’s a lot there. We will speak only of the information we got about Welt Yang from this Visual Novel.

Around the time this VN takes place Welt Yang is 8 years old since it’s 1955. He is the kiddo in the middle, and man oh man he went through a lot!!!

Welt’s dad, Elias Nokianvirtanen, really did care for Welt. He would often travel with his dad who was working for Schicksal.

There is important information to note, and if I don’t explain it I feel like so much will be lost and the reason all of this is important. There are two major groups at the time (1955). Schicksal and Anti-Entropy (AE). At first AE was just the Northern American branch, and there was a lot of tension between the two. After a bit of… fighting, they did manage to make Anti-Entropy.

The reason they were with the AE, was because Elias was forced to sabotage AE because Otto was threatening Welt’s life.

Than there is Welt Joyce. Welt Joyce is one of my personal favorite underrated characters, and the way Joyce really wanted to protect humanity tells you everything.

Now what does these gentlemen have in common-? Their deaths are connected to Otto. Otto killed Elias due to the reason he was there slipped, and Joyce risked his life to protect New York from being nuked by Otto.

At this time as Welt was trying to help Joyce, Joyce asked him what he thought of the name Welt. Welt mentions he likes it, and Joyce not only passed on the name Welt, but also the Herrchser core.

If you are curious, and wish to read the VN here is the link! https://zklm.github.io/honkai-vn-antientropy/ as a reminder, this is a fan translation, since we never got an official English translation!

Now, here is where we get to the fun bits. Fun fact: in the manga Second Eruption, Otto was legit like flabbergasted. Cause you know, THE FACT HE KILLED IS SUPPOSEDLY ALIVE. Only than to see it wasn’t Welt Joyce, but someone else and this manga just really shows you how strong Welt can be.

Now in Second Eruption, their goal at the start was just “hey we need to find this new herrchser.” So guess what? They gotta work together a bit. There was a small comment that I feel gets over looked and that is, Otto never really taught Siegfried or Theresa how to use their divine keys, and Welt made a small jab at this. I don’t hear people really mention this, and I don’t know why it is such a small fact I love to bring up.

There is a really important fight scene that happens among these pages/chapters between Welt and Sirin. Here we get to see more of what Welt can do as the HOR, which is once he learns the structure of a human creation, he can make a cope with honkai energy. Now I don’t wanna go to much detail into this fight cause how I’m typing won’t do it justice, but we get a tiny new conflict pop up! What is this conflict? A clown, more specifically, Otto. That’s Otto Apocalypse himself.

When I saw Otto has basically made it his personal goal to take down Welt, it being Joyce or Yang, to take down AE, and just do his plans, I mean it. This man goes so far, and I can do a whole essay about Otto, because he is an extremely well written antagonist. However, that will be for later in case anyone wants that just tell me. But Otto could have done more to Welt here, however Siegfried was there! Since Siegfried is key to Otto’s plan he just leaves and they both luckily make it back to safety with VERY bad injuries.

I do not want to go into all the details in the manga, as this manga is my favorite and everyday I hope that HoYoverse will animate it, so https://manga.honkaiimpact3.com/book/1005 here is the link! PLEASE IF YOU CAN READ IT! It’s 65 chapters long, it’s amazing, well written and oh my goodness I could do a whole video essay on it.

Now I am gonna throw some fun facts because this post is getting long and I’ll share some links too!

So here is a great video from HoYoverse about Joyce, Welt Yang, and Bronya and the legacy of the Herrchser of Reason! https://youtu.be/eSOYUfnUGZk

youtube

Now here I’m gonna send two playlist of A Post Honkai Odyssey. Why? Because Welt is in it, and also one of my all time favorite character is in it too, Void Archives. (This is me hinting that I wanna info dump about him too.)

Here is a playlist of gameplay of APHO on YT: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt0MO_4lG2SEyuMmOywSW02-soMN0PA45

Here is a playlist for APHO 2: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIL1w10vWxxolgZxP1Q7KlTPyq2B8JCt3

Also APHO has a certain scene that could be similar to some Star Rail players 👀

Here some random fun facts about Welt Yang that I recall on top of my head cause he gives the brain serotonin!

Welt Yang for the first bit having the core couldn’t sleep tho to the fact that the core houses over 300k people, and he never really complained of any struggles it gave to him, but we learn during the HoD arc when he speaks with Bronya he is concerned about her and ask her all the things she is experiencing.

It’s mention in Second Eruption that Welt would try and ask Einstein to play the piano, also he mentions around that same chapter I believe that if he didn’t inherit the HoR core he thinks/wonders if he would have become a teacher or linguistic like his father.

Facts relating to Arahato is that one his company had a whole copyright issue with Otto’s game company, the Arahato is heavily based of Joyce, and the line “Witness the stars shatter before you!” Comes from Joyce, but Herrchser of Truth Bronya (HI3RD) and Welt (HSR) say this line! Also around the Thus Spoke Apocalypse arc, it is mentioned by Einstein that one morning Welt made breakfast for the crew but it wasn’t much since he made it but implies he knows how to cook!

This is more from Star Rail, but is Serval is in your express she actual mentions Welt cause he asked some questions, but here is the tumblr link for that!

I don’t want to make a too long post that no one possible reads, BUT PLEASE ASK ME ANYTHING! IT CAN BE SILLY OR SERIOUS ABOUT WELT OR ANY OF THE HONKAI IMPACT 3RD GROUP OR STAR RAIL GROUP AS WELL!!! I read the manga’s and I have read the VN and I have spent hours rereading and replaying and explaining to people that ask and I love to do so QVQ

#Welt Yang #Welt Joyce #otto apocalypse #honkai impact #honkai impact 3rd #hi3rd #hi3 #a post honkai odyssey #APHO #honkai star rail #hsr #I’m tagging as such since I do mention a bit of Star rail but mAN I COULD RAMBLE #adorable anon #Nohr rambles #long post

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fayrinferno · 5 months

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The (printed) collection

From time to time I get a question like, "do you have this or that book?" So, a few weeks back, I finally took them all out of their hiding place and grabbed some photos. Wish I had used my camera instead of phone, I had to stand on a chair to get it all and yeah, the picture is not the sharpest.

Anyway, I have some other stuff, figures and such, although I admittedly DO focus more on books as an artist/writer/translator. These books are the ones I translate from so I wasn't going for mint conditions, although a few of them are. You can see some of them still packed in the store bags. I included the CDs cause... well, they were next to the books and they do have some printed material as well.

The Shiren Suiki book gets a separate photo cause after taking the photos at home I realized I had left it at work when I scanned it... practically crying as I did cause it was barely opened when I bought it and it's a beautiful book. My Anvils are also very fragile.

I may do a complete list one day but for now, here are the quick descriptions.

ARTBOOKS & FANBOOKS I have pretty much all of the major official books I think, missing maybe 1-2 pieces. The one that may look less familiar is Hiroshi Osaka's personal artbook. I also have four of the relevant Nobuteru Yuuki artbooks. The bottom right one with the orange title is the issue of Newtype Magazine with a feature about Esca.

SMALLER BOOKS (let's pretend that's a category) Here I got all the novels (they are out of their sleeves cause I was working on them), all the filmbooks, Secrets of Escaflowne, Escaflowne Bible, and the Energist Memories manga/doujin collection.

DOUJINSHI I was mostly going for stuff I haven't seen online so I only got a handful. Besides the Shiren Suiki book, there are three Minato Tajima doujins (one of them is racy heh but I'm not hiding that I have it). One of the other doujins may look unfamiliar; it's a compilation book that includes other series (the character on the cover is from DN Angel). People who talk to me on Discord probably recognize the Nanoka doujinshi cover.

CDs AND THE LIKE I don't have all the soundtracks for some reason, probably cause I thought the missing ones wouldn't be hard to get. The PSX game is the special edition with the tarot cards. The LDs that I literally bought just for the covers and inlays. I also have all the audio dramas, some CDs with extras... and a phone card that was for some reason packed in a CD case lol (kidding, it's precious that they would give it that kind of protection). Oh, and there are two movie posters which I guess don't fall under either category.

I have some other stuff that is kinda related to Esca "by association" such as by artist or things that "looked similar" but I didn't include them. Also the figures. I may update this post with those but this is the brunt of it. I will be posting some goodies from these soon!

Same goes for the ongoing translations that I've been doing updates on in this post. Life is too short to delay them for months and years because of perfectionism, or rather, being self conscious about one's imperfect language skills. I am thankful to everyone who has helped me so far, proofreading my translations (coverteyes, pikafwance, sevenstars, and radical-rad1986)... I'm not tagging you guys but know that I'm VERY grateful, also to the other people who are helping me with other projects). I always had fun working together with you but it's no longer sustainable and I likely bit off more than I can chew. So I will get myself out of the way. There are two books that are almost complete as of today so I will just probably go chapter by chapter. I hope to be done with this asap but also December is a busy month for me so I'm not sure how smoothly it will go. Let's hope it does.

#escaflowne #anime merchandise #artbook #fanbook #doujinshi

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mistbow · 1 year

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Sorey, Mikleo, and Growth

Mostly from the manga. It’s known that Shiramine, the author of the manga, consulted both Hase Yuuta (Zestiria game director) and Yamamoto Naoki (Zestiria game head writer), but from her tweets, we know she put her own spin as to tell another side to the story that the game couldn’t tell, that when put together (with the game as well as the novel), we could glean the message of Zestiria as a whole. (As such, I would also like to bring to your attention what the director of Zestiria attempted to achieve with the game.)

Since every panel is drawn with that thought above, I think there’s more to this too. (Using original Japanese version because the official English localization seems to translate things rather liberally, even though every word, every sentence was carefully thought up according to the author.)

SOREY: This is where I became the Shepherd... feels like it was long time ago. MIKLEO: Really? We were running all over the place that it all happened so fast to me. SOREY: I wonder if we really can pass on the wishes of the previous Shepherd, Gramps, Muse, and the others... MIKLEO: I don’t know, but all Gramps told us back then was to be free to live our lives the way we wanted to. SOREY: Yeah, I became the Shepherd and came all the way this far because of my own will. MIKLEO: Still though, it's thanks to Gramps and the others that we've come this far, and that you've grown up from such a small boy to such a fine man.

SOREY: You’re still growing too. MIKLEO: I’m not talking about our heights!

In Zestiria, it is said that seraphim can control their own growth, it is different from humans in that external things affect their growth. Unlike seraphim, the way of being of humans change with time and experience (人間は天族と違い、時間・経験と共にその在り方を変えていく). Whereas seraphim can be seen as static figures that don’t change—since they’re manifestation of human’s feelings, the very bare “hearts of humans” themselves (天族とは誰かの想い、誰かの祈りから生まれた露わな＜人の心＞そのもの). This is why they can’t lie to themselves, nor can they taint themselves (yes, they can’t produce malevolence).

Speaking of time, it is a concept that I feel is important in Zestiria with the way it keeps being brought up again and again, and if you notice, in Japanese (in the game, in the novel, in the manga... it’s consistent), it is often written in the archaic form 刻 rather than 時, even though both are read the same way as とき. There’s a bit of nuance lost in translation here, as 刻 means “cut” in that “time” used to be represented to be cut up in old Japanese. This kind of explains what they mean by “time flowing differently for seraphim and humans” i.e the passages of time for seraphim and humans are different, measured in different units of time, so to speak.

SOREY: ...I never... want to forget this pain... SOREY: It’s exactly because I felt pain that I was able to continue this journey. SOREY: We're grieving, suffering because of the reality across this world... and that's why we are able to rise up for hope. ROSE: ! SOREY: Many feelings even beyond that I had never known before were shining through! That being case, we— MIKLEO: (Humans accept [receive] something, and with that, they change their way of being.)

SOREY: We’re not afraid to go down this road!! MIKLEO: (With time, you grow taller. With your calling, you don the mantle. If you, with all that, are willing to accept the pain that tries to dye you...) MIKLEO: (Then I, the seraph that resides within you, as the thought that you are who you are, will draw the bow together with you.)

Emphasis mine. And sorry for the awkward translation, but this part is especially lost in the English translation for some reason. Here the manga focuses on the very difference of humans and seraphim—humans grow (affected by time, accepting that it changes them) while seraphim are the feelings of those humans taking form.

It’s definitely deliberate that the panel where Mikleo thinks about how Sorey has grown taller and with the Shepherd’s burden, donned the mantle, is Sorey’s back, seemingly distant, with his Shepherd’s cloak too. Ohsaka (Mikleo’s JP VA) has commented before that when Sorey pulled out the Sacred Blade and became the Shepherd, perhaps Mikleo thought that Sorey became so far out of reach for him, that at that time he probably wondered where the Sorey he knew (the childhood friend he knew) went. There’s the fact that they used to be around the same height too, until Sorey grew much taller than Mikleo was. And it was not spelled out exactly why Sorey was adamant about not making Mikleo a Sub Lord, but Mikleo in the manga understood it as Sorey not wanting the last piece of their peaceful childhood, where even the thought of becoming the Shepherd and Sub Lord didn’t cross their mind, gone.

Also, love the wording for “don the mantle”... it’s both figurative and literal, of course, meaning that with that Shepherd’s cloak he took upon the burden and responsibility himself. What’s more in JP though, 羽織る (“to put on [cloak]”) when translated very literally is “to weave feathers”, and from his feather motif (which the Taizen book has described as symbolizing Sorey being a bird who doesn’t know of malevolence taking flight off to the world) and the Elysalark skit really early in the game, it can become a very nice double meaning. I don’t even need to go to the whole “blank canvas being dyed over” imagery here that’s also in the game and even in the theme song, White Light.

Then we go to Mikleo declaring himself being the thought of Sorey being who Sorey is. Again, seraphim being the manifestation of feelings, thoughts, and prayers of humans themselves.

MIKLEO: I've been wondering about this true name that I had felt in my heart long before I even learned words. Its meaning has always felt mysterious to me... MIKLEO: But now that I've seen that memory, I understand. A sorrowful wish in despair gave birth to me; it is the name of that wish. MIKLEO: It might be a curse, or fate, but we know of [comprehend in its entirety, sense, viscerally feel] the hope that resides within this vessel called life. SOREY: ...Yeah, we can’t let everyone’s, our wishes to be tainted. SOREY: Reach it out, Mikleo! SOREY: Luzrov Rulay [Mikleo the Enforcer]!

So seraphim are the very hearts of humans themselves, but especially those who bear the name “Enforcer” are incarnations born as the purest form of those hearts, carrying out the will of those humans (執行者の名を持つ天族は、その心の最も純粋な形として生まれた化身), hence the name. Shiramine said that in the case of Mikleo, he was born out of Michael’s despair, which paradoxically was also his hope. Then he decided to act as Sorey’s purest will.

By the way, it’s not just manga that has Mikleo snapping Sorey out and becoming the first to offer himself as the first bullet to sever the bond between Heldalf and Maotelus. In the novel, he also offered to go first.

「この旅の終わり、僕が嚆矢となる」 “At this journey’s end, I will become the whistling arrow.”

Whistling arrows, in the Heian era, are fired before the battle not just to alert the enemy, but also friendly kami (the beings seraphim in Zestiria are based on) so that they would lend their support. Befitting of a seraph whose armatization uses a bow.

Also, take note on the Japanese quote of Aqua Limit Ultima (which kinda is horribly translated) (and also, it’s called Aqua Limit: Reunion in JP btw):

スレイ「ヘルダルフ…！蒼華たる霊霧の執行！」ミクリオ「僕が決める！」二人「「アクアリムス！！」」

SOREY: Heldalf...! The enforcement of the azure spiritual mist! MIKLEO: I will end it! BOTH: Aqua Limit!!

And that’s the will that they finally carried out. It is because they are human and seraph, that they are two people of different kinds (exactly because they’re different, not the same), each aware of their own way of being, that they can grow this far.

水魚の交わり側に居て当たり前。互いがどんな存在か考えるまでもない。そんな関係。

Like Water and Fish It’s only natural to be by each other’s side. They don’t even need to think what they are to each other. It’s such a relationship.

異体同心種族は違うが、同じ想いを抱いて育った。人と天族の可能性を示す。

One Heart in Different Bodies They are of different kinds, but they grew up embracing the same feelings. Showing the possibilities of humans and seraphim.

唯一無二の互いに誰よりも負けたくない相手。だから成長できる。今までも、これからも。

The One and Only They do not want to lose to each other more than anyone else. That's why they can grow. Until now, and from now on.

応えしものもう言葉はいらない。友の決意を心で受け止めた親友に捧げる称号。

One who Answers No more words needed. A title granted to the best friend who has taken his friend’s decision to heart.

Truly the embodiment of what a human and a seraph can be. That’s the kind of bond that is, and the way they grow together also illustrates that.

#tales of #tales of zestiria #mino rambles #when will i be able to be more concise and coherent lmao #neverrr #mino talks zesty

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kerubimcrepin · 3 months

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Live-read: Trying to understand the Aux Tresors novels without actually reading the novels in question.

This is the last, and the most borderline-experimental and cringe-flop part of the reading break #1, because in this post, I will be discussing the five novels based on the show.

Without actually reading them.

Nobody has seemingly ever scanned or copied them, and I don't have the ability to buy them. If you're French, or a rich person, perhaps you could get your hands on them and tell me how wrong I am, but until then, let's speculate.

You can find the... (sighs deep as fuck) Plot Summaries on Otakia. Everything I will discuss here comes from Otakia. You can find the books somewhere else. Perhaps Amazon, probably some other site too... Because as far as I remember, Ankama's literal official shop only has one of the five.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 1 : Le ciel sur la tête

>Read about it here

To regurgitate a bit of info from Otakia: just like the Wakfu novels, which apparently also exist, these five novels are kind of like... a bonus episode in a written form, following the structure of the show.

When grabbing quotes from Otakia I will be putting them into a translator and then screenshotting, so that you can quickly read them, and so that I don't have to copy things.

But I won't be copying the descriptions or summaries of the books, just the bits I'd like to elaborate on. You can read them yourself there.

To reference that one meme: Why didn't he start thinking about his dead parents? Is he stupid?

OKAY, I really didn't expect this post to go anywhere, but it's funny that even in Dofus times, Porkass people were known to eat Twelvians.

You will never fucking guess with what nation Bonta of the Waven era, is involved in a seemingly mutually cannibalistic war with.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 2 : Une étoile pour le shérif

>Read about it here

I want to thank whoever runs Otakia for uploading this image specifically. Thank you Monsieur/Madame Otakia.

You may notice that, I will be upscaling all the images I bring here from the Otakia articles. The reason for this is that I am a normal and sane person, and need to look at it in a crispier way.

As you may remember, Kerubim already said that he used to be a sheriff in episode 16, West of Astrub.

The writer of this article will literally be like "the book gives you candy, sucks your dick clean and dry, cleans up your home, and then it gives you a hundred dollars, so I didn't like it."

I wish Kerubim would be a fucking loser and a menace more often.

In the Judgement of The Twelve episode, Kerubim and Bashi had already mentioned meething each other many times as young adults, and having stories about it, so it's nice to see this factoid utilized for more than 2 episodes, if only in a book.

Also, yet again, Kerubim literally doing his job and Bashi being fucking insane and hating him for it, despite doing far worse things.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 3 : Panique à Astrub

>Read about it here

Indie is insane for this btw.

Joris canonically eats burgers and YES reading this article a while back is the reason I put burgers into my Joris fanart.

You can see full art on my general artblog @atcham-crepin. Yeah, my blog naming scheme is very creative, I know.

I just think his refined ass eating burgers is funny, even though in canon he is only depicted doing this as a kid.

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 4 : Le décapiteur de soiffard

>Read about it here

Including the cover art because it is very nice, and to draw your attention to THE best novel none of us will ever get to fucking read.

My dream Joris & Simone story, and I can't even read it. Smh.

List of things I love about this:

Joris stealing stuff.

Simone being a leader.

Kerubim, as we had seen in the past episodes, literally the type to text something like "I am not long for this world.... tell my family I love them." over a tummy ache. I hate this man so much it's unreal.

Of Course he sent them on a wild goose chase over some random bullshit.

Simone and Joris @ Kerubim at the end of this book:

Roman Kerubim (Dofus) Tome 5 : Tous en piste

>Read about it here

I will be real, I don't think any living being can tame that fucking beast.

These books are just treating us with characters in outfits we hadn't seen them in, in the show. It would be... a better world, if these books were episodes instead.

Also, want to yet again remind you that I am upscaling the shit out of these images. Because I'm normal. But at times the results can be wonky.

The World of Twelve has never seen, and will never see again, a couple more toxic than them. Sad!

Unlike the Simone & Joris book, I yet again don't have much to say, but, I'm sure I would, had the books been available to me.

This brings me to a close with the first reading break. After this post, I will resume liveblogging about the show. But I do have ideas of what the next reading break entail, and I think they're rather fun! Like "trying to read Dofus manga without reading Dofus manga" or "reviewing Dofus Aux Tresors merch without buying Dofus Aux Tresors Merch", or, perhaps, "scrying on a crystal ball to read Tot Ankama's thoughts."

...Yeah. Only the last one is a joke.

#novels #ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #tagging because I want a broader circle of fans to know about the existence of the novels #so that maybe a kind pro-p*racy frenchman will someday upload them to l*brary g*nisis. i don't know.

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mytragedyperson · 7 months

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Thoughts I had while reading TCF/LCF chapter 16

Quick note before I begin – the reason I call it TCF and not LCF is because that’s technically what I’m reading. I’m currently reading it on EAP. If there’s an official English version I can read feel free to point me in the direction of it but, since TCF is what it’s called on the site I’m reading it on, that’s probably what I’ll refer to it as. If this is a problem, please feel free to unfollow or block my posts but I don’t really refer to the book’s name at all in the actual posts though I do use names like Beacrox and stuff. I’m hoping this isn’t a huge problem for anyone, but I just thought I’d put that out there. This applies to all posts I make about TCF so I won’t repeat myself. As far as I know, there is no official translation, and it feels slightly wrong to use LCF because that’s not what the version I’m reading is called. This probably won’t change unless there’s an official English version. Just wanted to put this out there for those who care about this. Without further ado, I present to you, my thoughts

That right there, Cale’s “who will go if I don’t” perfectly sums up this character and why he does the things he does. Why does he mess with the white star so much? Who will if he doesn’t? why does he loot so many places? Who will if he doesn’t? why does he save so many people? Who will if he doesn’t? that might actually be one of the most consistent parts of his character. He does these things because, if he doesn’t, who will? No one else is gonna save the Black Dragon, or Paseton. They might try, if they knew but they don’t. so who will if he doesn’t? no one. And that’s not acceptable to him. This isn’t to say he’s the only one who would or could help people, just that, in most situations, he’s the only one who can.

And Venion is officially present. Wish he wasn’t but he is.

The fact that this utter waste of oxygen is considered a typical, authoritative noble is really sad. No wonder their world is doomed if this is a typical noble.

I feel like most villains are at least slightly smarter than Venion, honestly. Maybe not necessarily in this novel, idk about that, but villains in general. Most of them would know not to try and tame a dragon. I feel like that’s pretty basic common sense. You know what, yes, even the villains in this novel are probably slightly smarter at least. Even the bandits I was making fun of last chapter were smarter, though not by much. They had no way of knowing this carriage belonged to a noble travelling with a Choi Han and an assassin and a torture expert. Usually having the numbers game is an advantage. But my point is they didn’t know these things. Marquis Stan and Venion know this is a dragon, that’s the whole point. That makes them a lot dumber than the poor bandits who just chose the wrong carriage on the wrong day, imo.

One thing I do admire about Cale is his patience and ability to keep a calm ead even in front of something like Venion. I can’t call whatever he is a human, but calling him garbage or even human garbage is an insult to garbage and, considering OG Cale is supposed to be considered trash, that just feels more wrong. So Venion is a lot worse than living garbage, but calling him a monster feels like giving him more credit than he deserves and also is offensive to monsters so idk what he is. Also can we just think for a second about the fact that, in this novel, in this world, someone who drinks a lot and trashes places, has a worse reputation than the people torturing a baby dragon and watching it for amusement. Now, I know they’re not exactly adverting that fact but most people know he crippled (am I allowed to say that? Is there a better term? Idk, sorry) his older brother, and yet somehow more people hate or look down on OG Cale than Venion. Again showing that the typical nobles have some serious issue and skewed perspectives and priorities. You can do a horrible thing and everyone know you were responsible but, as long as you have status, power and appear like a normal noble, well, that’s just how it is. All this to say fuck Venion Stan, Marquis Stan and anyone who allies with him. Taylor is the only good person in that family and idc what anyone says about that.

Also I know the man was tortured but I don’t remember Choi Han punching him, and if Choi Han didn’t punch him, I think he should have, as a treat. He deserves it. Both of them do.

And nobles are supposed to have class and care for their people. I guess we’ve both been disappointed today. If someone has clearly fallen and you can see that, you stop. Get your head out of Venion’s ass. You can kiss it all you want, he’s still not going to respect you. sorry, I know he’s like a servant or something but that doesn’t make what he’s saying less asshole-ish. This is why we don’t associate with Venion. We become assholes if we do.

Also I know this isn’t the time but can we just take a second, before Venion or his lackey piss me off again, to admire this relationship, dare I say friendship, between Hans and Choi Han. The way he cares for him and doesn’t want him to get in trouble. I feel like Hans is definitely cheering him on on the inside and agrees with him but can’t say anything due to being a servant for the Henituse family. Hans and Choi Han friendship. I wish we saw more of this. I hope we do as the novel goes on, even if it's just a little. I want them to be besties. Idek why.

You know, I feel like it would be so easy for people to look at Hans and just see him as dumb or something but he’s not. It’s not his fault no one tells him anything. He actually has a decent amount of knowledge on things, like the noble families and what he says about the rock towers and stuff. He’s not dumb, he’s just working with the information he has.

So they were trying to get Choi Han in trouble, right? And it probably would’ve worked, except Cale saw everything and is a generally good person so agrees with Choi Han’s actions… except doesn’t this look worse for Venion? Like, another noble, and someone travelling with that noble, who is known for being trash, shows more care and compassion for this guy than Venion. It definitely reflects badly on the Tolz family, or at least it should, that a noble from another territory, who is known for being trash, is kinder and less intimidating and cares more about your people than you do. Like, I know this is unlikely but I feel like, if ever this bar/inn owner heard someone talk trash about Cale he’d be like idk he isn’t that bad. You know he actually stayed here once, one of his guards saved my life, and would kinda defend him a little, but he wouldn’t do that for Tolz. If a good way to tell what nobles are like is to look at how people in their territory act, then the fact this guy wouldn’t defend Venion or Tolz from criticism but arguably would defend Cale says more about Venion and Tolz than anything really. Especially after Cale becomes Young Master Silver Shield.

I may be wrong but this is the first time we see Cale actually mad/genuinely annoyed by someone right? For all he says Hans annoys him, he’s actually never seemed particularly annoyed at Hans. And everyone/everything else he’s been more surprised or scared than mad. He wasn’t even annoyed when he was brought to this world. On one hand I get it, I’m angry at Venion too. I just think it’s interesting to note.

Cale really thinks about everyone, even this old man.

Idk why but Something about Cale right now, the way he tells Choi Han to calm doen is so attractive to me. Maybe it’s how calm and level headed he is, maybe it’s how in control he seems. Idk. Also not important but in my head I don’t see red haired Cale Henituse, I see black haired KRS and idk why.

You know who I think of when I remember Venion? Years ago, when I first got Facebook I’d stumble across photos of like hunters posing with animals they’d just killed and looking so proud of themselves, and it always just filled me with anger and confusion. Like, I’m not a vegetarian or vegan but something about that just seemed so wrong to me. Venion reminds me of a worse version of those people. So pleased to see an innocent animal hurt and proud of themselves for having something to do with it.

When I tell you that reading this man’s torture/punishment scene will be so satisfying to me. He deserves so much worse than he got.

No he stole the carriage. He’s never even heard of Count Henituse. And those knights are paid actors. Why do people insist on asking obvious questions? To start conversation? There must be a better conversation starter than that. Honesetly how Cale hasn’t rolled his eyes at this amazes me. He doesn’t even think the sarcastic thing. I simply couldn’t do that.

I think Venion has bigger problems than being rude.

It makes sense that most people would just naturally be disgusted by him actually. Humans in general typically have fairly good instincts. We can kind of sense when others are terrible human beings. Obviously it isn’t perfect but it is there. The people who follow him probably either fear him or are just as terrible but if most people hate him, it’s probably not just because he’s rude. Venion would probably be too arrogant to pretend to be someone he’s not, so his bad traits would be fairly obvious and I think, when someone is this horrible, they can’t fully hide it anyway. He may not be advertising the Black Dragon thing but there is so much wrong with him and he has so many bad traits it would be impossible to hide them fully, if he even bothered to in the first place.

I don’t get how he’s convinced himself any version of Cale is somehow worse than him. The worst thing OG Cale did was probably what he said to Choi Han, that didn’t happen this time, so the worst he’s done is get drunk and trash some bars and shops. Meanwhile Venion has permanently injured and plans to murder his older brother, and is regularly entertained by a child, no, a toddler getting tortured. He needs to be smacked back down to, well, not earth, whatever their world is called.

Again, still don’t get how Venion would ever look like the better or superior one in this situation. His carriage nearly ran someone over, his lackey berated the person who saved the guy they nearly hit, and then he randomly tried to start shit with another noble and insulting him in public, when the other noble hadn’t actually said or done anything to anyone. No matter how you put it, Venion is the asshole in this situation, and everyone would see that so idk what superiority he thinks he’s showing here.

See Cale gets it. Why ask something you already know about? Oh so he can point out Cale is trash. pOk the trash is still like the least problematic person in this situation so really it just makes you look worse. Btw not saying Choi Han is problematic or anything, hopefully you get my point, it’s a rare occasion of Cale being the best behaved from the outside. Is behaved a word? If it wasn’t it is now.

Idk I think Cale’s doing pretty well at being a noble and this type of talk. If that was me I’d just be rolling my eyes every time Venion spoke.

Also fuck Marquis Stan. He’s just as responsible for Taylor and The Black Dragon and is a shit father and noble. He should’ve been tortured just as much as Venion. Idc.

Is the three other children including Taylor? Because if not 3 siblings and either none of them know or none of them care about the dragon being tortured. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt but idk if I can.

Ok so it doesn’t include Taylor.

And none of them care that the oldest brother was crippled by their other brother? Not one? Man, what is up with this family? Why do they all suck so much? Taylor deserves batter.

Imagine if KRS was transmigrated in the Stan family instead. He’d hate them so much but I feel like their downfall would come even quicker, and he’d still help Taylor and Cage because he doesn’t want to be the Marquis. He could even tell them about the black dragon to help Taylor take down his family. And he’d still be in the capital so be able to help with the plot. Can’t decide how he’d get the Shield, but idk, could be fun.

Kinda love how he refers to it as our family already. That’s cute.

Tbf I don’t think nobles not wanting to Take / associate with Deruth’s territory has much to do with it being greedy, because even if it would be greedy, what are the chances the other nobles would all care. It’s probably more to do with the Forest of darkness. Whoever’s responsible for Henituse territory is responsible for watching the Forest of Darkness and, let’s face it, most nobles won’t want that responsibility. Like looking greedy might be some nobles’ concern, but at least one noble family wouldn’t care about that.

This bitch really had the audacity to try and compare himself to Basen? Please those are two completely different relationships. Basen isn’t a complete psychopath/narcissist. And for that matter Cale isn’t Taylor. And did he really just try to call Taylor the trash eldest son and himself the pretty smart younger brother? God he’s delusional. It’s so much worse than I remembered. Delusional, arrogant, dumb, pathetic, horrible. There’s not a single good quality about this guy. Also claims he’s smart but doesn’t realise that Cale dislikes him, dare I say hate him, more than he hates Cale, but that could also be arrogance so idk.

If Venion didn’t like me and compared me to Taylor I’d take that as a huge compliment actually.

Hate to point this out again but he failed to appear as a proper noble when his carriage nearly ran someone over and his lackey blamed that person. Doesn’t seem very proper to me but what do I know? Maybe that is proper behaviour.

Also all these people just heard you call this man a waste of time and an obstacle. I know that some rich people do see poorer people like this but surely this is one of those things that, as a noble, you’re supposed to think but not say out loud? I know they’re not your people but it still seems wrong. Also wouldn’t it appear to most outsiders that he only told his lackey to stop because he realise another noble was there and he wanted to look good in front of him. Again, there’s no way Venion actually realistically comes out of this looking morally better or superior in any way to Cale.

You can practically hear the disgust in Cale’s thoughts. That’s truly impressive.

Don’t worry Venion. Cale did a very good job of teaching his people that distinction. Although his idea of people who have a right to walk this earth may differ from yours. Also again he just very publicly stated that this man, who hasn’t actually done anything wrong, doesn’t have the right to walk the earth or whatever… because he’s not a noble I guess? Honestly, can you imagine a noble in our world saying this shit like in present time? I mean not much would happen lbr but everyone would at least be like we hate you, that’s a disgusting thing to say.

Also is now a good time to admit I have no idea how nobility actually works and therefore have no clue of the hierarchy? Ok so google has informed me that Marquis is higher than Count and now I’m sad that a dragon torturer has a higher rank than Count Henitus, and say what you want about him, but at least he actually cares about his people to the best of his ability with the knowledge he has.

That’s offensive to dogs. At least sometimes when they yap it’s for a good reason, usually not but sometimes. (I’m not hating on dogs, I love dogs, I have two dogs, but they do tend to bark for no reason)

I don’t think there’s actually a word for how much I hate this man. Hate and despise come close but feel too weak a word. loathe maybe but every time I think of the word loathe or loathing I think of the song from Wicked, and that song could so easily go the complete opposite direction. Maybe abhor but again these words feel too weak. They don’t fully capture the anger, the disgust, the complete inability to find even one good thing about him.

What I’d give to see Choi Han punch him, just once.

The Tolz family also seem like idiots but they also seem too pathetic to actually hate? Like they just go along with keeping a dragon on their territory and letting the Marquis torture it there? Dumb, dumb as hell. I’d feel sorry for them but they brought it on themselves and so instead I look about them in about the same way I imagine most people look when they see Florida Man in the news, just a why would you do that? Confusion but still more angry than I probably would be at most Florida men or similarly stupid people in the news. A more confused version of the anger I feel when there’s a child abuse story in the news and one of them is like oh but I didn’t abuse them, when there is proof they knew it was happening and were fine with it/amused by it/encouraging it or just didn’t care. You know what I change my mind I do hate the Tolz family, just less than Marquis Stan and Venion. But yeah fuck the Tolz family too. Being pathetic and dumb is no excuse honestly.

Cale needs a reward or something purely for not punching this man.

Also can we tak a second to discuss the difference in anger and how it’s expressed by Choi Han and Cale. The best way I can put it is Choi Han’s anger is like fire, right? It’s heated, passionate, comes on and spreads quickly and suddenly, is very destructive, hard to stop and contain, though it can be, and is harder to hide. Cale’s anger is like water, like the ocean. It’s cold, he looks very calm on the outside, so you don’t realise he’s angry, but under the surface he’s raging. I’ve always thought the ocean was beautiful and at the same time thought it was one of the most terrifying things there is, and not just because I can’t swim. With fire, the danger is there, it’s obvious, you know it’s dangerous, you know if you touch it you’re gonna get hurt, you’re gonna get burned, and that leaves a permanent mark. But the ocean isn’t like that, the danger isn’t as obvious, at least if you can swim, you could go in the ocean a million times and be just fine, and then one day you get stuck in the wrong tide, and you try to fight against it but you can’t. and there’s so much we don’t know about the ocean, so much mystery surrounding it, a lot of stories, some true, some not true. And the most dangerous thing about the ocean is how peaceful it looks, how calm, how it lures you in. even though I know I can’t swim, I still feel the urge, when I see the ocean, to just jump in, even though I know that would be a very bad idea. A lot of this applies to Cale, there are a lot of stories and rumours about him, he looks more calm than he is, he draws people in, a lot of those people survive and are just fine, but some get dragged away by the tide. The thing is fire and water, with all these differences, still have similarities: they both can hurt/kill you, and they can both be suffocating, and they’re both pretty to look at but can hurt you if you’re not careful. And that just feels so similar to Choi Han and Cale to me. Plus Cale managed to calm Choi Han down, a bit like water can douse a fire and put it out. Cale is water, Choi Han is fire, they’re both forces to be reckoned with and Venion pissed both of them off. He played with fire multiple times but he also earned the ocean’s fury, and an angry ocean… well, we all know how terrifying, how dangerous, that can be. This turned out more poetic than I intended so I’m gonna go ahead and move on.

Again he’s awfully judgy for someone who gets his kicks from torturing a 4 year old.

Cale subtly messing with Venion by purposefully using the hand he helped the old man with to shake Venion’s hand. Also the fact Cale is more disgusted to touch Venion and Venion doesn’t realise it.

also is the lackey a servant? I thought they were but idk. Oh well, not important

Cale’s ability to say these things without giving away that he’s lying is truly impressive.

Oh good, Venion’s gone. I apologise that this one is more angry/less positive. I just can’t stand Venion or people like him.

Cale: lowkey rants about everything wrong with the interaction with Venion

also Cale: I’m not that angry though

maybe not angry necessarily but he is very much disgusted. Even then he is a little angry, which is fair

again don’t get how exactly Cale would look bad in this situation, especially when compared with Venion

honestly Choi Han and Cale’s conversation here is actually great. Cale almost comforts Choi Han, and shows that he understands how Choi Han feels and where he’s coming from, and he agrees with him. He validates Choi Han so much but his plan to destroy Venion is different. Choi Han could and would beat Venion up, maybe even kill him, but Cale, Cale takes the things he and the Marquis care about the most, their status, their power, their image, their money. For people like Venion and the Marquis that’s much more devastating than a beatdown they could recover from and use as ammunition. And then he doesn’t even really ask or demand Choi Han helps him, he offers, gives him the chance to decide or agree to help on his own, and it’s such a subtle difference, but an important one nonetheless. Also don’t think either of them realise but they’re already besties at this point.

Choi Han is such a delight

Here’s the thing, Cale was already pissed at Venion before they even met and now he’s made him even angrier. i don’t think anyone can help him now. Like he was already beyond help but, now, it’s not just I’m going to punish you for what you did to Raon. It’s I’m going to do that and I’ll enjoy every second of tearing you apart and watching you be clueless I’m responsible until it’s too late. God I love that version of KRS Cale. Kinda want a dark Cale fic now. Not necessarily a villain but also kinda. Same Cale, just wants his people safe, but if anyone regardless of the side their on messes with his people they get the same treatment as his enemies, whether they’re a hero, villain, neutral. And where he enjoys bringing them down as well. Idk the idea of dark KRS Cale is so interesting to me. And slowly the characters around him become just as dark. Like he simply can’t lose anyone else so if anyone poses even the slightest threat to his people, they’re very quickly dealt with. Anyway not important

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ciaossu-imagines · 19 days

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I also feel you on the KHR reboot, though I can't find it in myself to completely give up hope. You know what I would happily settle for? The manga being put back in print. I live in the USA and I hate that it isn't sold anymore

anywhere. It's near impossible to find. And you can't find anything after the Future Arc. Hell, I'd love to have an official translation of the Hidden Bullet novels and such.

Anyways, I know it's unlikely to happen but I'd still love to see it. Thanks again for your amazing posts. 💕💕

I can definitely get not wanting to completely give up hope! I wish with all my soul a reboot would come along and surprise us all, revitalize the fandom, so I get the want for it, just don't really think it will happen sadly! Oh my god though, do I feel you on that one. Canada here - I have volumes 1-5 and 7-10 collected in earlier days of the fandom before they became quite so impossible to find. I cannot find volume 6 anywhere and even finding any volumes past 10 now? Impossible, unless I want the original Japanese versions and even then, they're used copies and expensive. I'd honestly love to see a rerelease of the whole manga, especially if they'd put out omnibus editions to make it easier to collect and afford! And you are definitely preaching to the choir on the Hidden Bullet novels. I have so many other series where translations of the light novels are easy to find and it should've been like that with KHR. Hell, I bought the School Briefs for BNHA and the BSD light novels right from my Kindle! The Hidden Bullet novels, translated and readily available, I think would have drawn a lot of fans in. The fan translations I've read were all solid, yes, but hard to find and I had to use Google Translate on a couple of them, but the stories alone?? God, some of them were absolutely incredible and they all added a lot of really interesting aspects to the characters! You're not alone in those wishes at all and I'm with you - I doubt it would happen. I'm sure the publishers and such don't think there's enough of a demand, but it would be like 20+ years of Christmases all at once if it ever happened! And aww, thank you for such sweet words and for stopping by to talk with me 😊

#admin chatter #fandom chatter

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yuukei-yikes · 8 months

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hope you dont mind me asking this but since you seem very knowledgeable about the fandom and all i thought it was suitable

why is there so much ship content between sato kido and kano?? are they not adoptive siblings?? theres even some in semi canon (i think) contents like in anthologies too,, i mean not surprised it exists since weird people are in every fandom but its talked so casually here

with momo and hibiya too actually! because of the huge age gap you would think it wouldn't be such a casual ship but it somehow is?? as far as i seen anyways

oh man lollll nah i dont mind. fair question and it's much better to have an answer to this

im putting it under the cut bc it turned out kinda long and into a rant, and also to warn i mention the themes suggested in the ask (incest, age gaps)

basically it's no secret that in japanese media, incest and age gaps are widely normalized even today so just imagine in 2013 when kagepro was at its peak.

back then, kido and kano specifically were a WIDELY popular ship. here's the thing with the weird kano and kido (and seto too but mainly kano and kido) shipping, aside from what i said abt normalized incest and shit. kano and kido (and seto) being siblings is actually... sort of a spoiler? it's not revealed early on.

kano and kido are presented as 2 kids the same age living together and having different names. and they purposefully stop acting like siblings. SO it doesnt register until you get into their backstories. they're both adopted into the same family when theyre like... 7 or 8, and were friends before becoming siblings so people were able to use this excuse: "OHHH THEYRE MORE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS"

but like..... they live together as siblings for YEARS and to be honest im sure 99% of people watch the song mvs FIRST which u can binge in 1 afternoon and if ur watching with any sort of actual interest and attention, you WILL see kano and kido as part of the tateyama family in ayano's theory of happiness. not to mention the anime came out in 2014 which im also sure 99% of kagepro fans have seen. so to me that was always an excuse if it came from a very dedicated fan though i do understand it if it's from a casual enjoyer, like they truly didn't catch that they're siblings

when i joined the fandom i was 13, didnt know eng or japanese, and thought mekatrio childhood friends made total sense for some good 6 months into the fandom until I realised properly. a few months ago, i discovered a very close friend of mine had a kagepro phase in 2014 or something and told me he really shipped kano and kido and when i told him they're siblings he was like WHAT!!!!!!!

and another thing abt kano and kido. they're indubitably the queerest characters. THEY LOOK THE FUCKING GAYEST. there is Something abt pushing the gay characters together?? kido is constantly mistaked for a guy. kano the poor thing had ANOTHER popular ship going for him with ayano because people decided he is that way to shintaro because he actually had a crush on ayano. yeah. this was the fucking consensus with kano, shintaro and ayano. like i mentioned i DONT KNOW japanese and only ever read the translations of the novels and i also dont Know what jin was thinking when writing kano and shintaro. But. dear lord it reads fucking homosexual my dude. jin does this by accident a lot though. look at kido and momo. momo calling kido beautiful 1000 times but she's like Well as a woman i am jealous i wish i was that pretty. bruuuh ok anyways moving on Ill GET to jin again in a second.

like you said, semi official stuff like the anthologies are very heavy on this ship and also.... sorry, the manga which is an official media. is Heavily into this ship. for jin's stance on it, i am not sure. i do think he laughs it off but he NEVER intended to write them that way. in the seventh novel theres a whole bit where kido's telling kano you shouldve never hidden this from me im your sister we are family. even shintaro who is the pov ur reading from is like wow what a nice brother and sister AND THATS THE SECOND TO LAST NOVEL WHICH BY THEN THE SHIP WAS SUPER POPULAR SO TO ME THAT WAS JIN'S WAY OF REMINDING EVERYONE THEYRE SIBLINGS. personally i think jin truthfully intended to write kano and kido as siblings but doesnt care people ship them otherwise he wouldnt have had the manga written by someone who shipped them

so basically what happened. kagepro was confusing and people sometimes missed they are siblings. in japanese media its super normalized. it is 2013 so here it is also normalized in fandom spaces. fanart ensues, even official or semi official content teases it, and yeah. boom its popular

another big part of it was, EVERYONE GETS A PARTNER!!!! kagepro content has A LOT of Shipping Pieces if that makes sense. idk what to call it but like god, pixiv entries with 1 shinaya, 1 harutaka, 1 setomary.... and 1 hibiya and momo and 1 kano and kido. god awful. if any golden year kagepro fans follow me they will KNOW what im talking about.

now that i mentioned it. hibiya and momo. ough. idk man. people were properly weird with this one. because with kano and kido they at least made up a damn excuse. with hibiya and momo there was nothing. but the thing is, jin is entirely to blame here. absolutely fucking disgusting bro. unlike with kano and kido, with hibiya and momo he actively wrote it. in the third novel their chapters together or any of hibiya's chapters are actual fucking torture to read. i wont go into details if u havent read it but like there are Reasons i never recommend kagepro to people.

its good to give jin proper respect he IS the creator of my favorite characters ever in the whole wide world and the writer of the story that makes me the happiest ever in the history of life. but. that doesn't mean i dont hold him accountable for being weird as hell in his writing because he absolutely is

back in the early days of this blog i had my very own Gets Send Deaths Threats arc by some people who shipped these guys or people who were mad i criticized jin (i always suspected it was like. the same 1 or 2 people. with a lot of time in their hands) soooo honestly answering this activated my fight of flight a little bit but tbh i havent seen Any content here on tumblr (i do have everything blacklisted to hell and back) or gotten ANY rude messages here in years, so i think we're good👍

hope this was helpful and i hope ur not grossed out of kagepro though I'd understand. u kinda need a strong stomach not only for its themes but sadly kagepro does the gross anime thing animes do :(

#ask tag #kagexplain #feel free to ask me to tag this any specific way. i dont rly know how to tag it

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grislyintentions · 3 months

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Lantern Rite 2024 [Cultural Observations]

Nothing overtly spoilery but tagging just to be safe.

Speech distinction between Adepti and Mortals: - Formal speech patterns very similar to Wuxia novels that Xingqiu reads, rather fond/quick to compare things to historical events or past interactions - Subtle separation in terms of referring to themselves ( commonly done in depictions of deities): 本仙 ( loosely translated as 'One')，仙师/上仙 (respectful term for upper ranking deities) > remember Xiao's reaction when Zhongli jokingly said he should be calling him that during the last lantern rite?

Traditional Chinese cultural beliefs and practises that are done irl:

-Referring to older folks as "Aunty" and "Uncle" despite not being blood-related as a form of respect (very large emphasis on remembering each 'role' someone has in the family - generally if your family is super traditional, you'd only call someone by their names if they are younger than you) - Enjoying reunion dinners during Lunar New Year Eve/ viewing the lunar new year as an occasion for celebrations together with family -Releasing kites in the form of sending well wishes to the skies, sending off past regrets/starting afresh - Tong sui (Cantonese pronunciation), 糖水 (chinese), refers to desserts that are sweet soup or custard. Different regions have different specialties. Some of which are: sesame paste, sweet potato soup, mung bean soup, red bean/green bean soup etc

- Dimsum (Cantonese pronunciation), 点心 (chinese) is often eaten either for breakfast or brunch. Another popular breakfast would be congee with fried dough and century egg.

-舞龙舞狮 performances are considered a very popular thing and are often seen in grand festivals/celebrations as well as the opening of a shop as it is said to bring in auspicious luck. In fact, it has led to the formation of performance troupes as an official career. There are also pretty big international competitions formed for lion dancing too. -Tea eggs, moon cakes, Tau Sa Piah and all are tasty snacks and if you don't like them...how dare you break my heart/J -WINTER MELON CAKES ARE SO GOOD. But instead of a conventional cake, they're more of a pastry/flaky like texture with filling on the inside. They're also called 老婆饼 (wife pastry) to my amusement. Naturally, there's also a 老公饼 (husband pastry) counterpart too.

#spoilers cw #[i might add commentary in a separate post eventually maybe? ;w;]

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tada-no-honzuki · 7 months

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Ascendance of a Bookworm (29) Part 5 Volume 8 Chapter 1

This translation is not supposed to replace the official releases of the light novel series and is purely made for my own entertainment. Please purchase the official light novel when it becomes available!

Joining forces

After finishing my discussion with Dunkelfelger and discussing the treatment of Justus and Eckhart with Sylvester, I left Sylvester's office and joined Cornelius, Hartmut, and Lieseletta. Since I wasn’t feeling confident yet that I would be able to walk swiftly with the elegance expected of a young lady, I formed my highbeast and got in. We were in a hurry.

"I have secured Dunkelfelger's assistance. We are leaving tonight.” I declared, before asking, “Oh, and before I forget, do you know what became of the archducal family meeting?"

Cornelius nodded and quickly explained, “Florencia required all the attendants and knights in attendance to sign a magic contract that prohibits them from further spreading the confidential information you accidentally spilled in the spur of the moment. As people were signing the contract, we received an ordonnanz from Aub Ehrenfest relaying that you secured Dunkelfelger’s assistance and would be leaving for Kirnberger at midnight and that he would be leaving for the Royal Academy at once. I presume something else happened on your end?”

I nodded, "I shall explain the details later, but it's not bad news."

It would be foolish to discuss the arrival of Justus and Eckhart right here in the hallway. After skillfully preventing Cornelius from making any further inquiries with a smile, I turned my gaze to Hartmut, who was walking on my other side.

“Hartmut, please inform my guard knights to gather in my room at once.”

“I presume you wish to hold a strategy meeting?” Hartmut asked with a calm and collected face. “I have already contacted everyone. I informed them time is of the essence, so even those who were stationed at the temple should be arriving about now. I told Roderick and Philine to stay as they are.”

Somewhat taken aback by his efficiency, I involuntarily did a double take at Hartmut.

"...w-well done."

“I am glad to be of use to you, Lady Rozemyne.”

As Hartmut had predicted, everyone was already there when I returned to my room. However, it did not escape my eye that the knights who had rushed over from the temple still seemed slightly out of breath.

“Um, Lady Rozemyne. Hartmut informed us there was some kind of emergency…”

"Yes,” I said. “I know this comes rather suddenly, but I'm going to attack Ahrensbach’s foundation tonight.

"……excuse me?"

The situation had changed considerably since this morning. It was not something I could have predicted either, so their reaction was to be expected. I quickly explained the current situation to those who hadn’t attended today’s meeting. That Ferdinand lay collapsed in Ahrensbach’s replenishing hall, that Georgine would likely use this opportunity to invade Ehrenfest, that I would be going to Ahrensbach tonight to rescue Ferdinand, that I secured Dunkelfelger’s assistance with the help of Sylvester, and that Justus and Eckhart had arrived at the Royal Academy and would join us later.

There was no denying it, this was an emergency. As everyone's face tightened, I started giving instructions. There was little time until departure.

"First of all, for my attendants, I ask that Lieseletta and Gretia accompany me to my Library. Ottilie and Bertilde, please stay here and pack my highbeast-riding clothes, shoes, and any feystones and magic tools in this room I might need. Also, since I shall be taking dinner and a nap at my library, please arrange to move my personal chefs as well.”

“Lady Rozemyne, how many people shall be having dinner at the library tonight?” Ottilie asked. “I believe it would be wise to prepare extra ingredients as well……”

As I looked around and started counting, Lieseletta quickly stepped in.

“Ottilie, please pack as many ingredients as possible. I shall check with the chefs at the library. If it turns out we don’t have enough, I shall contact Lady Elvira. It seems Lord Eckhart shall be returning, so I’m certain she will be happy to cooperate."

Ottilie and Lieseletta had quickly divided the work between them. So, I moved on.

"When you are done, I would like you to assist Florencia, Charlotte, and Brunhilde to collect information and prepare for Georgine’s invasion.”

"Understood," Ottilie smiled. “Better not waste any time then”, and immediately got to work. Bertilde, yet unaccustomed to my reckless behavior, hurried after Otillie in a fluster.

“Then, Lady Rozemyne,” Lieseletta asked. “Would you like Gretia and me to go to the library and assist Lasfam with the preparations to receive our guests?”

"Yes, indeed,” I replied. “You are very perceptive, Lieseletta. Eckhart and Justus shall be having dinner with us and taking a nap as well. I will leave the preparations to you."

"Understood. Since there is little time, we shall go ahead,” Lieseletta said, then added, “Oh, and please don’t accidentally send all your retainers off on errands. Be sure to keep a guard knight to accompany you to the library.” before leaving the room with Gretia.

"Hartmut and Clarissa, I would like you to distribute the magic tools and rejuvenation potions you have made so far, and after that..." I began, but I was interrupted by Clarissa.

"Please rest assured!” she enthusiastically declared. “We have prepared enough magic tools and rejuvenation potions to last us. So, we can leave at any time. Once we have distributed everything, Hartmut and I shall take turns to take a nap."

Setting aside Clarissa, a scholar of the sword from Dunkelfelger, it surprised me that she thought Hartmut would be included as a member of our invading party as a matter of course.

“It will be difficult for you to manage the magic tools and potions loaded inside your highbeast by yourself,” Hartmut pointed out. “Even more so if you wish to distribute them to Dunkelfelger as well. So, please allow me to tag along, so you may focus on rescuing Lord Ferdinand."

"...I appreciate the offer,” I replied. “But I do not believe this battlefield is a place for scholars to go." As I folded my arms and slightly tilted my head, contemplating whether he would do all right on the battlefield despite lacking any ditter experience, a smile appeared on Hartmut’s lips.

“Oh, do you truly believe that to be the case, Lady Rozemyne?” he asked in an amused tone. “Aren’t you an archduke candidate and a scholar apprentice yourself?”

"Ugh... Time is of the essence, if you slow us down, I will leave you behind!” I declared in frustration, unable to argue with him.

Hartmut smiled calmly in response, “That won’t be a problem since I will be riding inside your highbeast, Lady Rozemyne, to manage the magic tools.”

"Just leave it to us!” Clarissa proclaimed. “…I suppose it’s time to fully demonstrate my true strength. I have traveled from Dunkelfelger to Ehrenfest without rest once before!"

……NOOOO! That’s not something to be proud of!

Since I wanted to increase our stock of antidotes as much as possible before departure, I decided to let Hartmut and Clarissa do as they wanted and sent them off to the library. Then, I looked around at the knights who would be accompanying me to Ahrensbach.

"Laurenz, since you are still a minor, you have a choice,” I said. “Would you prefer to come with me or stay here?"

“I have given my name to you, Lady Rozemyne,” he stated with a bitter smile. “Please do not leave me behind.”

As if on cue, Judith’s hand shot into the air, "I don't want to be left behind either!"

However, as things were, I could not give her permission to accompany me. Knight apprentices were not allowed to work outside the noble’s quarter to begin with. For my sake, Sylvester had made an exception and included the temple to be within their scope of action. He had also given permission to bring them along should I be visiting their birthplaces for work. However, invading another duchy was most definitely not on the list of allowances given.

"Judith, since this is an emergency situation, you will need your father's permission. I cannot bring a minor to fight a battle in another duchy without their parent’s approval.”

"Why! ... I will send him an ordonnanz at once, to get his permission!" Judith exclaimed with teary eyes, before rushing out of the room.

I took this opportunity to give orders to my guard knights.

“I would like all of you to take turns going to the knight’s dormitory to have dinner, take a nap, and prepare for departure. Damuel will be the only adult knight to remain in Ehrenfest.”

My guard knights gave Damuel a surprised look, then gathered to discuss their rotation schedule. Damuel was left to stand on his own. I softly tugged on his cape and handed him a sound-blocking magic tool.

"I want you to stay here, because there is something only you can do."

“Lady Rozemyne?” Damuel asked cautiously.

“Please protect my family,” I said. “They are more important to me than anything else in Ehrenfest. Georgine and her lackeys kept contact with the former high bishop. So, there is a chance she knows about my family and their whereabouts in the lower city. She may have realized they are my greatest weakness.”

If one carefully studied the circumstances surrounding my entering the temple, Charlotte’s rescue, my connections in the lower city, my choice of exclusive craftspeople, and my trends, it would be abundantly clear who were the most important people in my life. Considering that Georgine was planning to sneak into the temple and seize the foundation, as the high bishop, I was probably the biggest obstacle in her way. Objectively speaking, taking my family and the Gutenburgs hostage would be the most effective way to block any resistance on my side.

"Damuel, I cannot ask this of anyone else. You are the only one who knows. Please."

“Understood.” Damuel sighed. “… I made the same promise to Lord Ferdinand after all.”

"To Lord Ferdinand?"

As the question left my lips, Damuel gazed into the distance, presumably in Ahrensbach’s direction.

“Before he left for Ahrensbach, he told me I would become the only one who directly knew you from your shrine maiden days.”

Both Sylvester and Karstedt knew that I was a commoner as well, but when I was still an apprentice blue shrine maiden, we had only met face-to-face a few times, not daily. Even though Ferdinand had given them reports on my life in the temple, they likely did not fully understand how much I cared about my family.

“Therefore, he ordered me to protect your heart, Lady Rozemyne,” Damuel continued. “He also told me to keep tabs on Hartmut’s information-gathering activities, to keep him from stepping out of line. A truly unreasonable request, if you ask me."

Damuel looked down at me with a bitter smile. I suddenly realized his face was a lot closer than it used to be. Back in my shrine maiden days, our eye levels had been completely different.

......when we first met, I only reached up to Damuel’s stomach. I couldn’t look him in the eye unless he kneeled.

As the thought crossed my mind, Damuel kneeled before me. Rather than making eye contact, however, I could only see his brown hair.

"I suppose that as your guard knight, I should advise you that staying here in Ehrenfest is the safest option…" Damuel paused for a moment. Then he raised his head and looked me in the eyes. “Take care, Lady Rozemyne. Stay true to your desires and be sure to save Lord Ferdinand. May you have the blessing of the gods.”

"Thank you, Damuel. You are truly a knight of the finest sort."

As Damuel returned the sound-blocking tool and left the room, Cornelius gave me a curious look.

"Where is Damuel off to?"

“He is off to protect my most important things. Damuel is a guard knight too, after all,” I smiled. “Have you decided in what order you will take your naps?”

After confirming the knights' rotation, I headed to the library.

“Lady Rozemyne, I have been waiting for your return. I heard about Lord Ferdinand…”

As soon as Lasfam finished his greeting, he quickly came over to inquire after Ferdinand. He must have heard about it from my retainers who had arrived earlier. Anyone would get anxious upon hearing that their Lord was on the verge of death far away in another duchy, let alone a name-sworn retainer. Until now, I had rarely seen anything but a smile on his face, but today Lasfam’s expression was stiff, his green eyes betraying his inner turmoil.

“I understand your concern, Lasfam. However, I have obtained permission from Aub Ehrenfest to invade Ahrensbach to rescue him, and secured assistance from Dunkelfelger. I also expect Justus and Eckhart to arrive here by sixth bell."

As we walked toward my room, I inquired Lasfam about the status of the preparations.

“Are the guest rooms for Justus and Eckhart ready? The number of people eating dinner here has increased significantly, are there enough ingredients? Have the chefs arrived yet?”

As I rattled off my list of questions, Lasfam assured me the preparations were proceeding smoothly.

"I was hoping to have everything ready before they arrive,” I said, then added, “And if I inquire after the situation in Ahrensbach over dinner, that should leave sufficient time to prepare any additional things we may need.”

"Understood. I will have everything ready by sixth bell."

I noticed the tinge of unease had disappeared from Lasfam's voice. So, I added another task to the list.

“Also, if possible, please contact Eckhart and Justus’ family homes to see if any of their clothes are still left in Ehrenfest. I presume they did not have the chance to bring any.”

Lasfam nodded, “In that case, I shall prepare a change of clothes for Lord Ferdinand as well. He may need it.”

As I entered my room, Lasfam energetically walked off, his mind focused on what needed to be done. Since my retainers were all busy taking care of preparations, I knew I would only get in their way if I started wandering around. So, I decided to do what I could while staying in my room.

First of all, I sent an ordonnnanz to Brigitte in Illgner to inform her that it was highly likely that Ahrensbach would use Ferdinand’s incapacitation to invade Ehrenfest, and that Georgine was likely to operate in the shadow. I also told her about the silver cloth, requested she gather information from the commoners in their province, and reminded her to stay in close contact with the other Giebe.

“Grandfather is ready to provide backup at any moment. If you notice any irregularities at the border, contact us at once.”

Brigitte immediately sent a reply, “We received an ordonnanz from Lady Florencia earlier, but she didn’t relay nearly as many details. I would like to thank you for the additional and valuable information. We shall keep in contact with the other Giebe and ask our citizens to keep an eye out.”

Realizing that the Giebe’s of the border provinces hadn't received much information, I sent an ordonnanz to Florencia telling her, “Please share more details with the border provinces, and request Giebe Gerlach and Giebe Gardun to have their knights tighten their defenses.”

With the ordonnanzes taken care of, I entered my hidden room and searched the book of Mestionora for a map of Ahrensbach. I hoped to learn the location of the border gate and the temple. My efforts were rewarded, as I found a map of the duchy and the blueprint that was used to build the temple, thus learning everything I wished to know.

……it went through hell to get it, but I'm glad I did. It's amazingly useful! Thanks be to the Gods!

I copy-pasted the map and blueprint each onto a sheet of magic paper that Clarissa had prepared, thoroughly pleased with the results of my search. Understanding maps wasn’t exactly my forte. I always had trouble figuring out my current position and the location of my destination, but I was sure that at least one of my knights would be able to read it.

With high hopes, I searched for a blueprint of the castle too, so I might determine the location of its replenishing hall, but unfortunately, nothing popped up. Since a castle’s floor plan would rarely be revised, about the only opportunity to see a blueprint of the entire castle was when Entwickeln was performed. Maybe it was in the part of the book that Ferdinand had?

“Seriously, why am I missing the most crucial information!?” I grumbled to myself.

There was no point in crying over it. Besides, Justus and Eckhart probably knew its location, so it didn’t really matter. So instead, I decided to copy-paste some magic circles that might come in handy.

After a while, the summoning tool glowed, indicating someone outside wished to speak with me. As I exited my hidden room, Judith reported, “I was told to stay in Ehrenfest.” with a disappointed face. Considering a parent’s feelings, I hadn’t expected anything else.

"If you think that accompanying me to Ahrensbach is the only job expected of my guard knights, you are mistaken. It is also their job to protect the people important to me who I cannot bring with me."

"That's true, but..." Judith’s voice trailed.

Invading another duchy probably seemed like a spectacular job to a knight. The difference in mindset between Damuel, who was working hard on a humble job, and Judith could not be clearer.

“To allow me peace of mind, Damuel has promised to stay behind and guard my loved ones,” I said. “Judith, I want you to work with Damuel to protect the temple and the lower city. My Gutenburgs will be essential if I ever hope to expand the printing industry. They are indispensable to me. Tell yourself, “I shall not allow Georgine in.” Do not compromise on that determination as you protect the temple and Ehrenfest.”

Judith had good eyesight and specialized in ranged attacks. Stationing her at the temple, and having her attack with bug bombs, should give even a noble-born lady like Georgine a good scare. That silver cloth would not protect her.

"Understood,” Judith acceded. “I shall guard the temple.”

As I continued preparing as I saw fit, sixth bell rang. Soon after, Justus and Eckhart arrived. I immediately left my room to welcome them.

“Justus, Eckhart!”

"...L-Lady Rozemyne?"

Seeing me all grown up, Justus froze in place, left at a loss for words. Apparently, Sylvester had not informed them. However, unlike Justus, Eckhart quietly turned his blue eyes to me and softly murmured, “Rozemyne, is that you?” Then, immediately moved on and questioned me on the current state of our preparations.

……Eckhart certainly cares more about whether we can save Ferdinand and how far our preparations have progressed, than my sudden growth. No surprise there.

His lack of reaction was refreshing and reassuring.

“We have already prepared everything you just mentioned,” I told him. “I also acquired Dunkelfelger’s assistance, and we shall leave to rescue Lord Ferdinand tonight.”

“Just as I would expect from my little sister,” Eckhart replied. “It’s clear you were educated by Lord Ferdinand."

Hearing the honest praise and seeing the sparkle of hope in his eyes made me very happy. Eckhart only ever praised me whenever I was exceedingly useful to Ferdinand. In short, I was doing an amazingly good job right now.

"...Aub Ehrenfest said you have some kind of plan. Is that true?"

"Yes, brother,” I answered. “I do have a plan. And with you and Justus here, the odds of success have significantly increased."

My biggest worry was that I didn't know the location of the replenishing hall, but with their help, I should be able to get there without getting lost. Eckhart nodded in reply, “Good.”

“Eckhart, how can you completely ignore how much Lady Rozemyne has changed?” Justus asked, exasperated.

“I do not care how much she changes on the outside,” Eckhart answered. “As long as she still cares about Lord Ferdinand on the inside, I am good.” Showing no interest in the situation whatsoever, he walked over to Lasfam. In his hand, he held a metal cage containing a single name-swearing stone. I guessed it was probably Lasfam’s.

"Even then, doesn’t it intrigue you?"

Unlike Eckhart, it seemed Justus wanted to hear more details about my rapid growth. His brown eyes were gleaming with curiosity, and he started squirming in place. He clearly wanted to know more, but was unsure how to broach the subject in our current state of emergency.

"Lady Rozemyne, what happened to your body?” Justus eventually asked. “I have never heard of anyone growing that much in such a short period of time, and into such a beautiful young lady not to mention."

As Justus slowly approached me, Hartmut slipped between us, saying, "I am glad you asked." His orange eyes were gleaming with anticipation, sending a shiver down my spine.

"I doubt anyone other than Lady Rozemyne shall ever be bestowed the privilege of a miracle like this. It proves beyond a doubt how truly blessed she is by the gods. This was a miracle granted by Anwachs, the god of growth! Please allow me to explain in great detail the workings of this wonderful miracle."

“Certainly, but do stop when Justus gets tired of listening," I said.

I expected even Justus would soon get tired of Hartmut. He was in the habit of looping same-sounding compliments and overreferencing the gods, making his explanations hard to understand. In fact, my closest retainers kept dismissing him, saying, "No thanks, you already told me that before.”

……unfortunately, their evasions only motivate him to come up with new ways to express his excitement, infinitely increasing the number of unnecessary compliments.

#Ascendance of a Bookworm #P5V8 #Translation

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