she simmered down for a moment. so he, unlike everyone else, wasn’t going to tell her to let go? ryuko frowned, shook her head, and rolled her shoulders in a long shrug. this was too confusing.
( i’m not gonna punch ya’. you should know i’m happy enough t’see ya’ back … )
It would be a lie for Tsumugu to say he was happy to be back, though he found little to be happy about nowadays anyway. He couldn’t even enjoy the feeling of being fully clothed--at least, not in this heat. He settled for a more truthful reply:
( wow, old man. how’m i supposed t’react to you just up and appearin’ on my front doorstep again? should i be sayin’ ‘hell yeah, i missed your ass’ like i actually did, or just be pissed for you, like everyone else, just up and leavin’ again? should i just say hell no, not let y’back in, pretend like your room ain’t there, turn your ass away knowin’ you’re just gonna disappear again at some point anyway? should i be happy, or should i just punch your damn lights out for the way you’re starin’ at the fact that yes, sen is still on my body! )
Mikisugi plopped a couple of glasses in front of Tsumugu and opened a bottle. “We haven’t met for drinks in a long time so this should be fun. Tell me how you’ve been.” He poured them both drinks before drinking his.
He gives his gratitude before downing his own cup. It's only when he refills the other's that he admits, almost reluctantly, "Idle."
Having dedicated the past few years of his life to battling Life Fibers, he found little to do now that they were gone and the recovery efforts were coming to an end. "How are things on your end?"
"Oh… Well, I guess it only makes sense that they would fund your artillery…" Bringing her finger to her lips, the schoolgirl swayed on her feet a bit. "So… How do you make smaller guns that do things like that? I want to try to make a gun!"
"Modifications." There's a brief lapse of conversation while he studies her the same way a general evaluates his recruits. He then says, in a tone that was neither surprised nor skeptical, "Can you use a gun?"
“Yeah, but I don’t see what makes ya so damn brave for just pickin’ up a gun. Anyone can pick up a gun an’ shoot it, doesn’t make ya brave. Fightin’ for a cause doesn’t mean ya just go shootin’ people.”
"Let me tell you two useful pieces of information." He says. "One: inaction breeds no results. There comes a time when using a gun is the only option." A pause. "Two: I once agreed with you."
"Oh. Well…" Mako chewed on her cheek in thought before her mouth quickly opened again, finger raising to point at Tsumugu’s weaponry. "All of those big guns must cost so much! How do you afford so many of them?!"
He holds the question in quiet contemplation for a good minute before responding, "My artillery is funded by Nudist Beach. I assume Kaneo Takarada is the sponsor. The smaller weapons," he pulls out his sewing machine gun in demonstration, "are handmade."
her feet are in fourth position, tread delicate on the earth. she may be frilly and blonde but she is quick but the death she brings may not always be this.
even so——
"Care to dance?"
His gun is trained right on her as she approaches.
First. he clarifies, "--...I don't dance."
Then he offers a warning, "Do not take a step closer."
One step is all it will take for him to shoot and make his retreat. As impromptu as this meeting may be, he has enough traps and explosives laid around to take down an army.
( He wonders, briefly, if so little would be enough to take her down. )
——— Benignity, it seems, has won the toiled war of rancorous impatience. Silver-tongue has the gall to warrant such brusqueness ( perhaps she should feel ashamed. ) ; and it is with a decrepit sigh that a sudden thaw gives way to hilarity.
’ ————- All right. Make sure not to hurt yourself. ‘
He took no offense. Poor performance yields poor praise—
he appreciated what he construed as criticism.
” …I won’t. “
He replies, and his fingers return to work.
Was it her words or her mannerisms? Perhaps it was simply the activity at hand ( sewing — a long neglected practice only his muscles remember ), but she reminds him of his sister.
ooc; So I'm writing this so I can later attach it to my "About" section and justify my portrayal of Tsumugu. I feel a lot better about this now that I've given it... a lot of thought. If I had to give this a TL;DR title, I'd title it: "English Dub Tsumugu vs. Japanese Dub Tsumugu: Why It Matters Too Much to Me".
( Also! If you roleplay Tsu/have roleplayed Tsu in the past in a way that contradicts the way I play him, then I'm not saying I'm better than you. I'm saying that I see Tsu a certain way; you see Tsu a certain way--and that's totally okay. )
I've been in this fandom pretty much since Episode 12 of KLK came out. I remember when I first opened KLK, saw Tsumugu in the opening and whispered "who is he". Then I marathon'd all the episodes that were out at the time and fell in love.
I'm going to hurry and get to the point rather than reminisce about the good ol' days. You can get a fair view of the difference between Jap!Tsu and Eng!Tsu with their first few words after "What do you want?":
Japanese Dub: "People who rely on Life Fibers aren't entitled to complain... (gardening guy's question) nor are they entitled to answers."
English Dub: "As far as I'm concerned, if you roll with Life Fibers, you can suck it... (gardening guy's question) None of your business, jackass."
Japanese Dub Tsumugu defies all the stereotypes you think of when you first see him--a big, bulky guy. He doesn't swear in Japanese, not even once, I think. You'll have to fact-check me on that one. He is terse and concise, using only as many words as he needs to get the point across.
Then you have the English Dub Tsumugu, who swears... a lot. His words fit his appearance though. Aggressive, combative--his words challenge you. He also isn't as to-the-point as he could be ("as far as I'm concerned" could be taken out and the meaning wouid be the same).
The difference between Eng!Tsu and Jap!Tsu matters so much to me because the way a person speaks is based on their upbringing and thought process. Swearing demeans others, and Jap!Tsu doesn't do that. The strongest language he ever uses is the word "parasite" and that was to reference Life Fibers. He makes sure to say to the Gardening Club Captain that he wasn't entitled to answers not because of who he is, but because of the Life Fibers he wore. Then there's Eng!Tsu who just straight out calls him "jackass".
I realize that people say "Japanese doesn't have many swear words", and there are a million things wrong with that, but I'll focus on Tsu. Japanese isn't one of the languages I know, but I've checked this with friends who do a million times. Tsu's speech in Japanese is not aggressive, but to-the-point.
That's what I think Tsumugu is in a nutshell: blunt, but he doesn't have bad intentions.
I don't think that Eng!Tsu is wrong. I simply think of Eng!Tsu and Jap!Tsu as two different characters.
If you want to debate this/discuss it further, I'll gladly oblige you. I'm super passionate about this but won't judge you if you have a different opinion. ; 3;
