#it's not an entire translation but the rest isn't that relevant anyway

[polwigle]

hello and welcome to another episode of Shi Has Strong Opinions on Niche Canon with Citable Sources, this time focusing on something that technically isn't canon one way or the other — my preferred fan-transliterated name for Raven's hometown in Tales of Vesperia, which is never referred to by name in any officially translated material.

anyway it's spelled Pharihyde and in this essay I will die on this hill

Context

In case you clicked the read-more with no stake in this game just because you want to see me being pedantic, let me recap the relevant facts of the argument:

Raven's backstory is never fully explained in the base game, but it was elaborated on in official side materials. The same story, titled 虚空の仮面 (Kokuu no Kamen, commonly translated as Empty Mask), was released in multiple formats: light novel[1], manga[2], and drama CD[3]. None of these have ever been officially translated, but fans have made their own attempts at each over the years.

The town in question here does not appear in the original game, due to having been obliterated during the prequel events. It's also never mentioned by name in the drama CD, leaving only two sources for a name: the light novel and the manga.

Officially, it is named ファリハイド (Farihaido).

The first translation the English-speaking fandom ever saw of any Kokuu no Kamen material was when one fan (whose identity was regrettably lost to time) took a stab at summarizing the light novels, not long after they were first published back in 2010. This fan transliterated the town's name as Pharihyde.

Tumblr user dokidokimaster was commissioned to finally translate the manga in 2015. In this translation, the town was spelled Farryheid.

By the time the manga was being translated, the web page that hosted the light novel summary had tragically gone down. Luckily, I was active enough in the fandom at the time to have had the link to the light novel bookmarked, so I was able to find an archive via the blessed Wayback Machine, but I can't fault dokidokimaster for the inconsistencies.

tl;dr of section: OG town name is ファリハイド; LN calls it Pharihyde; manga calls it Farryheid. Rest of essay is about why me preferring the name that came first isn't just me being a cranky fandom elder I swear

It's About The World It's In

In the world of Terca Lumireis, on the continent of Ilyccia, somewhere far from the capital city, Zaphias, there was once a town called... Farryheid? No, Pharihyde. The latter fits better with the precedents set by the official names around it, and I will literally break it down letter by differing letter to prove it!

'Ph' vs 'F'

Among officially transliterated locations and other "made-up" names in Tales of Vesperia, there are 3 that include 'ph' to represent an 'f' sound (Zaphias, Zopheir, Phaeroh). Only a single name uses an actual 'f' for that sound (Ghasfarost), and it also still has an 'h' as the second letter in the word.

Single vs. Double 'R'

After a ctrl+F pass through the entire list of location names in this game[4], not a single one contains the substring 'rr'. Only one R at a time in Terca Lumireis!

Vowel Choice and Lexical Stress

So, English has this neat little feature where some syllables in a word get more emphasis than others! And that plays heavily into this section, because 'i' and 'y' can sound identical when using 'y' as a vowel, but the existing place names stress them differently.

Now, as the Drama CD doesn't give us a spoken example of ファリハイド to work from (and Japanese doesn't do stress the way English does anyway), where the stress goes in either "Pharihyde" or "Farryheid" is technically unconfirmed... But my default reading is with primary stress on the first syllable, and secondary stress on the last (FAR-ee-hide).

In the precedent-setting place names, based on the English dub of the 360 version*, a lone 'i' is seen unstressed in at least 16 distinct names, including the ones I referenced in my intro scene-setting sentence (ZA-phi-as, TER-ca LU-mi-reis). To my knowledge, lone 'i' is never pronounced with stress in dialogue (and potentially appears only once, in the plot-irrelevant Niffel Lake).

In contrast, whenever 'y' is used as any kind of vowel, it always gets at least secondary stress, as in Hypionia (high-pee-O-nee-ah) and Rhybgaro (RIB-ga-ro). Thus, "Pharihyde" using an 'i' for the middle vowel and a 'y' for the last one lines up with established precedent.

Also, the double vowel 'ei' is consistently and exclusively used to represent an 'ay' sound, as in "day", not as in "hide"! Deidon Hold, Keiv Moc, and again Zopheir and Terca Lumireis — none of these 'ei's sound the way "Farryheid" wants you to pronounce it!

Silent 'e'

I did say I'd break down every different letter between "Pharihyde" and "Farryheid", but this last one's not for flavour, it's just to get the 'y' to act as the right kind of vowel sound. Just a normal feature of English pronunciation rules here (though not entirely without precedent: Halure, Relewiese, Laulyse). Sorry to go out with a whimper ^^;;

Conclusion

The base content of Tales of Vesperia sets up some implied rules about how its made-up-for-the-game words function. "Farryheid" may be a perfectly reasonable transliteration of ファリハイド in a vacuum, but "Pharihyde" follows the rules of the setting, literally to the letter!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

*Footnote about the pronunciation thing: the new voice lines added in the Definitive Edition of the game pronounce some place names inconsistently. I can only assume that by the time they recorded the new lines, a decade after the original ones, they forgot how some pronunciations worked and didn't check their old work... :/

References

(bc it's not an essay without citations!)

[1] Light novel summary (archived): https://web.archive.org/web/20110806003312/http://www.fancomic.com:80/vesperia/resources/raven/emptymask.htm [2] Manga translation: https://dokidokimaster.tumblr.com/tagged/kokuu+no+kamen/chrono [3] Drama CD translation, for completion's sake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHEDJ_D4tyI [4] List of in-game place names: https://hyouta.com/vesperia/?version=pc&locale=eng&compare=2&section=locations

#tales of #tov #tales of vesperia #kokuu no kamen #epic length ramble #shout-out to magicmetslogic for suggesting i post this here #instead of just making a discord thread about it

[seabagles]

Ok welcome to

How to reference a song in your fanfic

A Ted talk by me

If the lyrics in question don't have an active roll to play in the scene do not include them. (ie. The lyrics actively state something going on between characters or some other such that you DO NOT INTEND to actively write yourself)

Instead site the name and/or artist of the song itself. If the song is not well known but the artist is put in the artist. If the song is well known, whether or not the artist is, you could probably leave off citing the artist. (If there are two well known songs with the same or similar names or the song is less well known than another with the same or similar name cite the artist).

If you are going to put the artist and song title in your fic WRITE IT IN LINE WITH THE TONE OF YOUR FIC. Fiction isn't an essay you don't necessarily have to cite it in mla format. You can say the artist's name put an apostrophe s on that bitch (if the artist's name ends in an s say the possessive form out loud if your pronounce the second s write it, if not, don't) say the title and move on. It will flow better than mla formating that bitch.

If you feel that the song is truly so unknown to YOUR SPECIFIC READERS (note that plenty of fandom exists on spotify if the song is in a lot of playlists relevant to your readers it does not count as unknown) note in that moment with an asterisk or a parenthetical (In the end chapter notes) and then link the song there.

You should link the song (literally) with full title and artist name in the end notes anyway

If a specific stanza stands out as important to the scene this is a good place to write those specific lyrics as well

Refrain from putting the full song in your fics if at all possible

If you are going to put actual lyrics in for any reason format them differently than the rest of your writing. You want them to bring meaning make it look (visually on the page) like they matter. Again FICTION IS NOT AN ESSAY don't cite them like an essay - it's really hard to read. Canter them, start a new line when the lyrics do. Make it pretty and more legible so that your reader knows their meaning actually matters in the moment.

If the intention of the whole fic is to tie into a song: link the song in the notes at the beginning of the fic so that your readers can listen to it before or while reading. And while formatting the lyrics emphasize that poetic look for them. Presumably you are using them for their poetry, let your readers really revel in them, maybe give an empty line between each lyric to really set them apart. Here also, to the best of your ability, don't mention the song itself in your writing. If the characters are listening to the song for the whole of the fic one mention is really all you need. Tempo and general mood are ok but use them sparingly as possible. If it's more viginette style, mention the song only if the characters are listening to it again as little as possible (I'll trust your judgment here)

If your fic is very song forward like the above but it has multiple songs for whatever reason use the written lyrics sparingly and Link all the songs at the beginning of the chapter (preferably in the order they are used, Link a playlist on spotify perhaps really give your readers the feel.

Songs are a really subtle way to tall about something in an audio/visual media but it doesn't translate well to fiction. You have to translate it properly for it to have the same effect. Truly no matter how subtle you think your song scenes are I usually get all the relevant subtext by skipping it entirely. Especially when the lyrics are followed up by dialog that is just the characters actively referencing the song and saying why it's right or wrong. If you don't think that a pure paragraph of you describing their feelings while they stare at each other while dancing to a slow song will get the thought across give them some dialog. Lyrics (Especially when written in mla goddamned slash format) are a very heavy handed way to signal emotional turmoil or change. Plus it's truly not a great way to give credit to the artist. Linking the song actively and only mentioning their name and the title of the song is better because then you can send listeners their way and run a lower risk of taking people out of the writing.

Tldr: put in your chapter notes (beginning or end) an actual link to the song you feel the need to reference. Reference the songs by title and artist alone in the actual fic if at all possible and don't format the title artist or lyrics like it's an essay 1. The slashes are hard to read and 2. It isn't an essay it's fiction the rules are bendy.

#fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fic writing #writing advice #seriously i try to be real nice #advice #my post #writing #ao3 fanfic #long post

[destieldisaster]

Season 10 Wrap Up

3 episodes of demon!dean and 20 episodes of Mark of Cain drama! It's season 10 of

Not my favourite season. Possibly my least favourite so far.

So! The main plot!

Dean's a demon! Drowley summer of love, baby! Then he's cured, but the mark of Cain is making him more and more violent. This is the rest of his plot. He kills Cain and beats up pretty much everyone else.

So much time was spend on the effect the mark was having on Dean. It got really annoying with the brothers constantly flip flopping on their arguments for how to handle it, which they talked about every episode even though most of the time nothing was happening with it.

Sam's entire plot this season is trying to fix Dean. He ends up recruiting Rowena and Charlie to translate and decode the Book of the Damned. Cas and even Crowley also end up helping. All behind Dean's back and against his will, negating everything he was fighting with Dean about last season.

Eventually Dean kills all the Stynes (good for him) and snaps, beating up Cas (HOW DARE HE) and letting a fellow hunter die (rip rudy). He tries to get death to kill him, but death tells him about the darkness and says he can only send him away. And only if Sammy dies, for Winchester reasons. And he almost does it too! But some pictures of Mary make him change his mind and KILL DEATH instead. And then Rowena removes the mark anyway, unleashing the darkness. It's kind of a mess but makes for a cool, ominous ending to the season.

B plots

Cas runs around with Hannah a bit, trying to return the last angels to heaven. She's clearly in love with him but he's not having any of it. She ends up leaving because she wants to give her vessel her life back. That was nice.

Cas's stolen grace is failing, but he gets a boost with Crowley's help and eventually he gets his own back from Metatron - turning him human along the way.

Claire! I loved everything with Cas and Claire. They had a rocky start of course, but they really build something and it's great. Eventually Amelia dies and Claire ends up with Jody.

Crowley & Rowena: meeting & being awesome & ruling hell together & fighting about it. Rowena wanting Crowley to break with/kill the Winchesters and being thrown out because of it. Rowena makes Sam try to kill Crowley in exchange for translating the book, but he fails because Crowley's allowed to actually be powerful for once. This is all good stuff and I adore Rowena. And it all culminates in Rowena putting a spell on Cas to kill Crowley, which is where we leave them.

Everything else

Fan Fiction! No relevance to anything else, but definitely deserves a shout out.

Jody and Donna meet. It's really great.

Charlie kills the Wizard of Oz. Because why not.

Cole. Ugh.

The Stynes family. Also ugh. Should probably be a B plot but fuck those guys. So uninteresting that even being descendants of Frankenstein couldn't make me care. Except for one thing..

Charlie's death. Okay, rant incoming. WHY THE HELL DID SHE EVER LEAVE THE BUNKER? IT'S NOT LIKE SHE HAD A HOME? AND SHE CONSIDERED THE WINCHESTERS HER BROTHERS? SO WHY NOT LIVE THERE??? AND THE STYNES WERE AFTER HER! WHY WOULDN'T SHE STAY THERE FOR PROTECTION AT THE VERY LEAST??? But nooooo, we had to see her dead in a bathtub so Dean had a reason to snap. Fucking fuck everything.

Another rant! Cas just not being in episodes for no reason. WHY wouldn't they bring him on hunts? He's an angel! Why??? And even when he was there, his storyline was so disjointed from the Winchesters and I don't get it! Especially when Dean's on the brink constantly, why isn't he there???? Yes I'm going to repeat this in every season wrap up as well as individual episode recaps. It's a big deal and will never stop pissing me off. And this season was extra bad because they didn't even try to explain..

So..

Still had a bunch of great episodes and moments, but overall not the best.

And that's that for the first decade of the show! Time to move on to season 11!

#god this is so long sorry if you had to scroll past this #really these are just for my own archive feel free to ignore them #spn rewatch #season wrap up #season 10 #my shitty gifs #long post