InsaneJournal

Current mood:	tired
Current music:	Shimomura Youko - Somnus

I'ma translatin' again
What do I do when the official FFXIII site proceeds to tell the game's backstory in the form of a web novel?

I translate it, that's what. And since I apparently can't do this in order, I've started with part 2. ...Mostly cause it revolves around Hope, and goddammit, he's adorable. Damn you and your adorable shota characters, Squenix. :E

Anyway. Phrasing is awkward - I see now why there aren't many licensed novel translations of anything, keeping the flow is fucking hard - but here's what I have so far. It's like one and a half pages of the second part. Somewhere around there, anyway.


Evening phone calls always lead to something bad. This was no exception.
Fourteen-year-old boys who live to a high standard are generally hasty in making their own opinions. But today, all Hope could do was stare at his mother from behind.
"No, it's fine. The two of us can enjoy ourselves. Bowdam's a good place. The lodgings are impeccable and the sea is so beautiful."
It was his father on the phone. The moment it had rung, Hope had known. There was something else his father needed to do. In any case, now it was evening, and Hope watched the sky darkening over his mother's shoulder.
"Oh...I see. All right. It's a shame, though."
Of course it was. The firm conviction in his mother's voice had sunk to weakness. Work couldn't be hurried, even if it meant they couldn't leave tomorrow...or something like that.
Originally, the three of them had been supposed to take a trip. They'd go to a seaside resort for ten days, and rent a condominium for their stay there. His mother had been planning this for half a year now. They wouldn't rush around on a sightseeing tour, they'd do things at their own pace, she always said. It had been a while since they'd done something like that.
He came to know his mother's goals from her words. Not knowing what to do with a busy husband and a difficult son, she was always trying to think of ideas. Of course, these plans were often rather odd, but the time she spent talking about them made it seem as though she always had a better way. Of course, it was just her opinion.
On the other hand, Hope felt like they'd never get anywhere. He didn't know if he could talk face-to-face with his father for ten days. He thought it'd be boring. So, now that he'd heard his father suddenly had to leave on a business trip and would be delayed, he was secretly relieved.
His father had said he could be there for the second half of it, but Hope found that suspicious. Surely there'd be a meeting at the last minute, and someone important from the Sanctum would call them and give them some excuse.
That was how it always was. No matter how many promises his father made, work always got in the way.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Yes, I'm sure we won't be bored."
His mother's voice had suddenly become bright again. That was the same as always, too. Don't push yourself, Mother, he always wanted to say to her. But whenever his father broke a promise, she'd forgive him wholeheartedly, accepting his reasons and excuses without complaint and just moving on.
He knew his father's work was very difficult and doing official work put him in a tough situation, and that everyone had come to rely on the high-ranked people of the Sanctum...but even such unpersuasive words set out before his mother had never swayed her to become pitiful. She frantically defended his father no matter what, even when he never offered her even a single word of thanks.
His mother's kindness, and his own self. It was all the same to his father.
Besides, his mother never worried about it, never let the challenges before her bring her down, even if the words she was given were clearly unreasonable. You should be ashamed of yourself, Father, Hope whispered to himself.