Hey all! I've decided to make myself known again here on tumblr this time. Since I'm a part of the Jewel of the Eufala zine I guess it's only right to put some platform here.
Meet my builder, Nico. I am a starter digital artist so please excuse my terribly slow posting and shaky work.
This may be a cope years after playing the game that just popped in my head as I replay the game, but I believe Pen is much smarter then he lets on with his persona.
Spoilers for My Time at Sandrock Below
Many characters in game will say he has more brawn over brains, narcissistic, shallow, etc. He can be all of that, but it hides a much deeper, more insidious side to him that gets over looked. Pen is much more intelligent then he leads on and its very interesting how a lot of what happens in Sandrock was the result of him manipulating people.
Pen's favorite methods of gaining information tend to be violent and messy, but it seems that he is just as capable of using softer methods.
AKA He made himself a honey pot.
One of the ways for spies to gather information from the opposition is for them to catfish the enemy. Mainly women, but also men, would lure in the target and gain information by using seduction. Sometimes, these spies would be celebrities/entertainers who are invited by powerful people to perform for them and these spies will overhear information. Why is this important? Because Pen is a minor celebrity in the Free Cities. Mostly important - IN THE CAPITAL ATARA!!!
Pen's regularly boosts that he has a huge fan base that adores him for his good looks and muscles. He has an application process for the amount of people that desire to date him.
While players are scandalized by this information that Pen has 12 lovers (including the player if they romance him), they miss that applications need one major factor and that is PERSONAL INFORMATION. Like the person name, address, and most importantly - THEIR JOB.
So what ramifications could it mean if one of Pen's lovers worked a government position or was related to a politician/high ranked military officer?
Now Pen has a network of people who are unknowingly spying for him and feeding him information that he can relay back to Duvos. Who knows how many other Duvos spies are also doing the same on a smaller scale.
Grace says it best, Pen's personality is atrocious the minute he opens his mouth, but Pen does not even have to be face to face with his fans. Pen is fully capable of lying when he needs to. Miguel of all people was one of Pen's victims.
For years, Pen along with someone else (Maybe even Matilda)was manipulating Miguel's religious extremism to set Sandrock to fail and hired Yan to control the water crisis as a smokescreen for Duvos to steal relics.
So while Pen is manipulating Miguel, he is also somehow keep track of 12 different people and maintain a relationship with them. On top of eventually coming to Sandrock and manipulating the townspeople into thinking he is their idiot protector.
For penlet 2... I know I said I don't intend to really work on the Penlets, but sometimes I can't help but brainstorm randomly about these guys, and penlet 2 became a rather tragic story, and it involves Claire being hurt by someone within Duvos that it caused her to lose the baby, and Pen being absolutely angry that he kills someone who caused it.
I've seen some people ask for comparisons between Pen's Chinese and English lines, so I made a small compilation to show the biggest changes that most baffled me.
There is a kind Chinese player, Yu, who offered the fandom much of the info and insight contained in this post, and she was the first to shed light on these differences! Without her enthusiasm, I doubt people would have started investigating Pen's original lines ;_;
Under the read more because this is long!
Brief premise: the Chinese dialogues in the game are often less "harsh" than the English ones. For example, Qi can sound rude and condescending in English, while he's pretty polite, if not a bit aloof, in Chinese. Justice's lines in English rely on the typical "hey pardner" cowboy accent, while in Chinese he's very professional, almost overly so.
That said, the English writer who worked on Pen made it no mystery that he based his characterization of Pen on Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. There is even a line directly referencing the movie: "[...] when I was a boy I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large. Now that I'm grown I have five dozen eggs [...]"
As such, English Pen sounds much different from Chinese Pen. He's more patronizing and rude, and the writer added stuff that it's simply not present in the Chinese text. So while in English Pen can sound like a knucklehead obsessed only with muscles and training, surrounded by adoring women and fans when in Duvos, in Chinese he shows a different, almost more innocent side, as if he were a very tall and big child who has never had a day of legitimate and healthy fun in his life (and that's carried across in some of the English lines - that's why his English version is a bit contradicting sometimes).
Here are some examples:
One of his lines as a Good Friend is:
Here it's implied that Pen gives the Builder a hard time not only to push them to improve themselves... but also because he likes doing it, referencing his friendship mission where he admits he doesn't like teaching people anything, he just wants to fight them.
Meanwhile, the Chinese version says:
I keep calling you a weakling just to urge you and encourage you to exercise hard and break through your limits. If you won't have me to protect you in the future, you will have to become an eagle for me!
Here "eagle" is a reference to the way Pen calls the Builder in Chinese: 小弱鸡 "little weakling/little chicken" - and the latter is a rude way to call someone in Chinese, especially if they are a man and the "chicken" character (鸡) is repeated twice (but 鸡 by itself is also slang for "female prostitute"... so if you want to read it that way, Pen can call the Builder "my little slut" when in a relationship. HEH.)
In any case the tone in this line of dialogue is much different from the one in English, and Pen sounds genuinely enthusiastic.
Another example:
At the start of the game, Pen asks the Builder to craft a Sword and Shield for Burgess, who apparently misplaced his own. It turns out Burgess hid them under his bed, so when the Builder tries to give the weapons they crafted to Pen, he will tell them to keep them.
As usual, the English version is mocking and patronizing ("Hah! That'd be rich!"). In the Chinese version, Pen first compliments the desert:
In this case, take it back and use it for yourself! Use it to explore the desert and fight those monsters - what a thrill! The desert is very dangerous, but it is also full of charm.
Then there is the line about Logan and his band:
Hey! Maybe you can still find traces of Logan's gang! If you subdue them, you will gain both fame and fortune! [Okay, see you next time] [not shown here]
Now, some romance stuff : >
This is the description for the Robo-Love Couch. In English it says:
Meanwhile the Chinese description:
Referred to as the "Love Sand Machine", Peng Hu specially built a loving sofa for you, pieced together from the remains of robot monsters in the ruins.
He specially built a loving sofa for the Builder. It seems like a silly detail, but wording is important!
And yes, Pen's full name is Peng Hu, 彭虎. Peng is his family name, Hu his birth name. Hu 虎 means "tiger", and now you can understand why Grace suspected him to be Tiger the spy. But that would have been too easy!
Peng 彭 is a common Chinese surname. Its original meaning is believed to be "sound of war drums" (sad implication), but it's also used as an adjective to mean "big". So Pen's full name can mean "big tiger" :D
Back to the couch! Lines are different during the date in Paradise Lost, too.
Come on, little weakling, come and sit next to me. Let's give this trophy a "kiss of victory"!
Do you do this with everyone you date?
Wait, it seems I'm regretting it a bit...
Happiness comes too suddenly......
(Kiss Peng Hu)
In the English version, the Builder can ask "How many of these thrones have you built...?", implying that Pen has had so many lovers he can craft this couch in a matter of few seconds. But in Chinese, the Builder's question is much different, it's more like: "Damn, are you always so over the top when dating someone??"
One of the biggest differences is in this set of lines:
Okay.
Meanwhile, in Chinese:
Today's experience made me realize that love has used a deadly locking technique on both of our hearts. Let me no longer doubt the feelings between us.
This love is true love! Now, I am even more unwilling to take my eyes away from you! Haha!
I MEAN.
Also, in Chinese Pen never mentions the infamous 12 girlfriends when the Builder and Grace question him in jail. Yu confirmed that throughout the game Pen doesn't brag about his love life or his popularity with women, probably also due to the negative way Chinese culture sees this kind of "bragging".
Not only Pen and many other characters are younger in Chinese Sandrock (Pen's age ranges from 25 to 27, while he's confirmed to be 31 in the English localization), but he's depicted as being not very experienced in relationships in general. He basically only knows how to fight, punch people, and destroy stuff. Anything else - having friends, being with someone who truly loves him and whom he truly loves, having a normal life - are something he never experienced before. He did date (see his final letter later), but he's not described being the Casanova of Duvos like he is in the English version. In fact, it seems people only liked him due to his body and status, and a remnant of this piece of characterization is left in the English text when he says:
Surely, you understand… I am quite the prize. I can’t take myself off the market just to become arm candy for you to show off at your little buildy guild awards or whatever it is! No, what I desire… is true love…
Furthermore,
In Chinese, he says during the Masterclass friendship mission: "To be honest, I never thought I'd be able to make friends, let alone with someone of your stature/body size! But here we are, with a sick relationship!"
In English: "You know, Skinny, I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before. Furthermore, I always promised myself I’d never be friends with anyone who didn’t have an awesome cape, but… you made me break that promise."
"I never thought I'd be able to make friends" is different from "I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before." In the first line, the focus is on Pen ("I don't know how to make friends; I'm not good at it; it's not for me; how do you do it?"), in the second it's on other people ("I've been surrounded by people all my life, but I don't consider any of them to be a friend of mine; yeah, I call this one 'friend', but... they are not really really a friend")
The Chinese line is much sadder, and it shows how lonely Pen's life has been. One of his main characteristics, after all, is being "special", "the strongest", "different from everyone else"; but more often than not, being special and different also mean being "lonely". ("I must say it gets lonely at the top… What I wouldn't give for a truly talented opponent who could really keep me on my toes! Alas...")
And now, the grand finale :'>
A screenshot from Yu's playthrough, Pen's final line:
Farewell, Yu. This time it's for real. You're free.
The Protector, the bracelet Pen will leave for the Builder in the cave, is called "Guardian of Love" (爱的守卫者) in Chinese. Its description says:
A very delicate bracelet that protects the wearer's wrist. Wearing it gives the wearer a feeling of being emotionally confined. Perhaps this feeling is similar to what Peng Hu often said, "Marriage is a boring bondage".
Dear [name], I've had a little more time to think lately in this so-called Atara Maximum Prison, and I'm more than a little sorry that I couldn't bring you along to accompany me. Well, it's my fault. Anyway, you are still the most beloved lover I have ever been with, and one of the few that I continue to miss even after a breakup. So, I'm going to forgive you. Yeah - I forgive you.I don't think there's a chance we'll ever be together again. You're just doing what you're supposed to do in your position, so there's nothing to complain about. I should have tried my best to recruit you from the beginning, and it would have been the best way to keep you with me. Of course I don't blame you, you're indeed excellent. I also left you a final challenge. In some ruins, there are a few of my most valuable things, and if you can get them, they're yours. It should be easy to get there, using the tricks I've taught you. My dear little weakling, this is the last time I'll call you that, I believe in your abilities. Remember, don't slack off on your training. We won't meet again. (but 后会无期 can also mean "meeting at an unspecified/unclear date")
And finally, if romanced, Pen will leave for the Builder 5 pieces of gold, 2 diamonds, and 1 Protector. 521 (and 520) are a cute way to say "I love you" in Chinese, because when read aloud they sound like "我爱你, Wo ai ni, "I love you". But in some cases, 521 also means "Yes, I will [marry you]" - and Pen does drop a diamond ring after his final battle (apparently he drops it only if you romanced him, but it's unclear yet. I'm pretty sure he didn't drop it during my Fang playthrough, while he did drop it when I romanced him, but I'll need to check that).
WELP, this is pretty much everything I got on this! If the kind Yu will tell us more or I find anything else, I'll update this post!
I will publish two versions. Tumblr will have half size of chapter 50 because of size restrictions (it'll be a little blurry is what im tryna say)
But my Patreon version will have the full size. Basically higher quality.
You can watch the Patreon Version here.
Don't worry, both versions are free to watch!
My behind the scenes and commentary will be the one that will be available to buy/available for cinnamon tiels.
In a later date, audio will be added and the entire storyboard will be posted on my youtube.
ANYWAYS SORRY GUYS THIS TOOK SUPER DUPER LONG.
BUT HERE IT IS! PLEASE, ENJOY!
If you'd like to support my work, check out my Patreon!
[My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock spoilers]
Thinking about Aadit's motives, and it's hard to say what is and isn't true with him.
He canonically loves the builder if you marry him. But which parts of his character are real? He's highly likely to be the Rouge Knight but even if he isn't he still is keeping something hidden. So it comes down to what are part of an act and what's the real him?
My Time at Sandrock suggest that the Rouge Knight was working independently from Duvos but we are also shown that the Alliance and Duvos both lie to avoid a full on war. We also know that the Rouge Knight is working with the Sky Shark who are referred to as pirates. Portia makes it clear that they are working for Duvos. So either the titles Rouge and pirates are used to claim independent actions or they really were working outside of any governing power.
There is the chance that the Rouge Knight's show boating instead of prioritizing getting out with the All Source is an intentional sabotage.
Or does the Rouge Knight believe what he's doing is for the greater good like Miguel did? Was he acting violent to suppress his own doubts? Like lashing out at the town and the builder for making him feel attached and for making him question his world view?
Maybe the Rouge Knight wanted the All Source for himself and planed to go against Duvos as a rebel force?
There also is the possibility of feeling like he doesn't have a choice. Like a friend of family member being used as leverage against him.
The way the Rouge Knight talks make his motives seem more like Pen's but if he is Aadit how would he manage acting as a complete opposite of himself so thoroughly for years?
Was he stationed at Portia the way Pen and Matilda were in Sandrock or was he hiding or intentionally going someplace where he thought the mission was impossible? He seems to express fear of his past at times but the note he leaves the builder is almost business like.
If he's hiding did he tell Duvos about the All Source because they found him and he was protecting himself?
And there is still the chance that Aadit isn't actually the Rouge Knight, or at least isn't working for Duvos at all. He could be a double agent or a spy working for the alliance like Grace. Perhaps the builder accidentally caused a huge mess for him to clean up either making him have to do more work to insure his cover isn't blown or having to go back to his agency for a new assignment or for punishment for nearly fumbling that one.
I wish there was a direct answer to what happened to Aadit, like if he's truly the Rouge Knight and what his goals/motivations were.
Though in the Evershine teaser art the characters that seems to be another pirate group have some outfit elements similar to the Rouge Knight's and the red background draws some association as well. Perhaps what ever conflicts occur in Evershine will answer some of the questions but I'm not holding my breath
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