Hello, I absolutely love your Ninah essays, they’re so in-depth and thorough, thank you for writing them!
I have a request if you wouldn’t mind, and I understand if you don’t want to do this as it takes time out your day; but you mentioned that Coat Guy’s Russian script is different to the English one, that he’s a lot more detached. Could you please give some further examples of this? Not the whole script as that’s a lot to ask, but maybe just the glaring differences? I’ve been trying to find a copy of the Russian script for all of the characters and I can’t find one anywhere.
Greetings! ^^ Thank you so much as well for reading them 😊 Glad that you found them interesting с:
Well, what I meant, in general, just take all the lines of Coat Guy and remove stuttering, and that's what you get. 😄
As I said, stuttering gives us a vibe of someone frozen, of course, in need of warmth and understanding, and also someone, actually, cute and vulnurable. Russian lines don't have stuttering, which makes it sound, lol, more COLD. Direct even, secretive.
For example, his first lines when he arrives:
rus:
Coat guy: Здравствуй. Сразу скажу, что мне жар не страшен. Но я всё равно ищу спокойное место. Смогу я у тебя найти покой? Protagonist: Ты кто? Coat guy: Это больше не важно. Ты же спрашиваешь, не Гость ли я? Нет, я не Гость. Но кое о чём я бы попросил тебя. Попозже. Я пока не уверен.
eng:
Coat guy: H-Hello. The heat doesn't b-bother me. I'm just looking for a quiet place to rest. Might I find some p-p-peace in your home? Protagonist: Who are you? Coat guy: It doesn't m-matter anymore. Are you wondering if I'm a Visitor? I'm n-not. But I do have a request. I'll ask you later. I'm not sure I can tr-trust you with it yet.
See? The same lines, maybe with tiny differences, but same in general.
Notice, that Russian lines don't have stuttering at all, which, again, make it sound more even business-like, detached. English version, however, has stuttering, creating really different atmosphere. In Russian it's like some weird dude, who is kind of direct, aloof, self-absorbed. In English we get someone who's vulnurable and cute.
Or compare by the vibe screens give us:
vs
See? 😄
Another example, his lines about space:
eng: You know… I thought of a m-m-metaphor. Picture deep space. Vast and fr-frozen. Galaxies are born. Stars c-collapse. …And I just observe. I'll never feel the heat of the s-s-sun. Or the w-warmth of an embrace. It seems neither s-space nor society need me.
rus: Знаешь… Кажется, я придумал ассоциацию ко всей этой истории. Представь огромный холодный космос. Существуют галактики по своим правилам, взрываются сверхновые. А я в этом скоплении событий – сторонний наблюдатель. Мне никогда не почувствовать энергию солнца. Равно как не испытаю человеческого тепла при объятии. Мне кажется, я этому обществу, как и космосу, не нужен.
In this case, Russian has more lines, more description, etc., but again, no stuttering, which makes the lines sound detached, melancholic, even tragic. English has less descriptions. Like, take this line:
Существуют галактики по своим правилам, взрываются сверхновые. А я в этом скоплении событий – сторонний наблюдатель. Galaxies exist according to their own rules, supernovae explode. And I, in this cluster of events, am an outside observer.
And in official English?
Galaxies are born. Stars c-collapse. …And I just observe.
You see for yourself, haha. Yes, less descriptions, the main idea is clear anyway, but you see how different the atmosphere is.
The same goes with his other lines and others lines, like, Jacob, for example. In Russian he's really rude and full of bile, while in English, as my dear friend @kosttyan said, "pussy boy", haha.
For my posts we both re-played the game many times for screenshots, including in English, and know the differences. I try to mark the differences in the translation if there are any с:
But the situation it's just like in my posts — original posts in Russian have more memes or additional stuff. I translate some if they're necessary for the post, like in case with Coat Guy meme moment, but the main thing is to keep the meaning of the message, thoughts and emotions in translation. Or the other way. For example, Russian text (Cultists' post) doesn't have explanations about "гари/gari", but English version does, because mostly we know what is it as it's part of the history, while it can be unclear in English. Original post has the entire block about references and their problems, but I removed it in English, because it's pointless for English-speaking people. They might see just deep lines, while they are direct references and quotes from Russian poetry or songs, and there are many of them so it creates a problem which is not seen in English, haha.
Well, I can provide you with Cold's lines in Russian, of course, I can send you a file, just give me your contacts in PM, it's not a problem, if you're this interested с:
Thank you for your question and attention! Happy New Year 😉
Ahhh this is so interesting! I’m coming off anon for this (I’m shy lol) thank you so much for the answer to my question!
I absolutely love the Russian script and the original interpretation of his character. The subtle differences actually change so much about him.
So, in my mind, he’s a bit more like the VHS Demo version, where he has no stutter and seems a bit less cute and, well… pathetic 😅 I’ve thought a lot about why they decided to change him in the English final release. It’s possible that, to a western audience, he didn’t seem cold enough initially, and wasn’t likeable enough for the average western pallet. But then… is he supposed to be likeable?
Same with Jacob, it seems they made him more likeable for English speakers. Which is interesting given the nature of the game itself.
Much to think about! But thank you so much again! Happy New Year!
(also, I would absolutely love access to the Russian Coat Guy script, I will DM my details, thank you!!)
