Cal C

@cdcubed

J->E TL he/him

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Cal C@cdcubed· 13d

my first exposure to that tea-sippingly British idiom definitely came via Banjo Tooie, where it was phrased in caveman-talk and therefore even less comprehensible (go back and play the Rare N64 platformers as an adult, and the UK English of it all will really jump out at you!)

a screenshot from Banjo Tooie, in Terrydactyland

Banjo and Kazooie jump across some water, having just killed a Rocknut tribe member with a Clockwork Kazooie egg

The dead Rocknut's dialogue reads:
"All go shape of the pear, but still 1 of us left"

Cal C@cdcubed· 13d

nashi wa nashi >my pear hunt has gone pear-shaped

Cal C@cdcubed· 14d

manga translators when there's a scene in a downtown shopping area in Japan

Kaburagi in Yowamushi Pedal arrives in Akihabara and says:

I've never seen so much signage!
Can't read it all...

Cal C@cdcubed· 21d

later in the volume, Mina turns to the camera and becomes a Marxist

Wilhelmina Murray says to her three rich companions:

"You elites thrive off the lifeblood of my kind—the working class.
You're the true vampires!!
Now that I see that much, I can hardly bear to break bread with you!!"

Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and Joe Suwa are stunned silent by her lefty declaration

Cal C@cdcubed· 21d

in which Sakamoto's detached/anthropological explanation of the eucharist (as a curious ritual by an exotic religion) likens Dracula to capitalists and posits that both are incompatible with Christianity (these start-of-volume essays destroy my pace, but they're always a hoot)

text reading as follows:

Nearly every sect of Christianity consumes a form of consecrated bread during certain rituals, such as the Catholic Mass. Also called the communion wafer or the host, the eucharist is believed to be the body of Jesus Christ himself. Though the exact method of preparation and name varies between sects, the bread is said to undergo transubstantiation and become the body of Christ when blessed by the clergy via a specific rite. Worshippers believe that by consuming the eucharist alongside wine (said to be the blood of Christ), they can achieve divine power and a deeper connection with the deity they worship. The origin of this practice is rooted in Christ’s words at the Last Supper, when he said, “Take, eat; this is my body. …Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant,” referring to bread and wine, respectively. In doing so, he expressed a desire to distribute his blood and body to all people, equally.

On the other hand, Dracula, the UnDead King, drinks the blood of others to enhance his own power, which, in a way, frames him as an entity completely antithetical to Christ and the Christian god. He claims the power of humans as his own (in the form of blood) and destroys his victims, starting with the meekest among us. This is also an uncannily apt description of capitalists, who were rising to power as capitalism spread like wildfire across most societies during Bram Stoker’s time. Stoker’s formless King of the Night symbolized a virus attacking the entire world, as well as those unseen looters and plunderers dominating society in the name of capitalism. That threat still looms large and grim before us today, as if to represent all that is wrong with the world. This monster is undying and immutable, yet Mina and her companions stand against it unflaggingly. Mina, in particular, is someone who seeks to right the ills and outrages of the world, and I see her as Bram Stoker’s symbol of hope for a brighter future.

Cal C@cdcubed· 28d

in volume 64 (!!) the MC comes across new terrain that his current equipment can't traverse, and he must acquire a mountain bike to progress Yowamushi Pedal is a metroidvania!

Onoda is confronted by a daunting, rocky slope

the hotshot new character launches toward the rocky slope on a mountain bike and performs a wheely

using a MTB, Onoda joins the new character on the rocky terrain

Cal C@cdcubed· Jul 13

you're telling me a shrimp nasi'd this goreng??

a top-down view of an attractive bowl of nasi goreng style fried rice with egg, peas, and shrimp, garnished with cucumber

Cal C@cdcubed· Jul 12

2 weeks post release, lying in bed this morning, just got the joke

Wiki entry for the Kawkawn enemy in Deltarune- a happy fluffy crow without wings

Wiki entry for the Shi enemy from Deltarune- a slick lookin' scarecrow with hat and scarf blowing in the wind

Cal C@cdcubed· Jul 8

JPN publishers be like

kombucha girl meme

left side (she makes a disgusted face):
"give human letterers layered files, resulting in more loc'd manga, faster"

right side (she looks intrigued in a positive way):
"give Orange the AI-slop co. a gajillion yen so their slop machine can pump out more slop, faster"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jul 1

cool crosspromo with a vile AI-slop company that shits all over official English-language Shueisha releases via their actual youtube channel 🫠

Thumbnail of a Duolingo vid "breaking down Naruto's biggest dubbing mistakes"

Thumbnail of a Duolingo vid "breaking down JJK dubbing mistakes"

Thumbnail of a Duolingo vid "breaking down One Piece dubbing mistakes"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 25

"the car-driving game with the mamma-mia blokes"

four women face a TV screen, while two of them play what is surely Mario Kart

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 25

sign describing chu-hai products, in the queer manga: "overwhelmingly fruity vibes"

a woman sets up a display of chu-hai products in a supermarket. a sign describes them as having "overwhelmingly fruity vibes"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 25

first delightful task of my day: quasi-freestyling imagined homophobic quote-tweets from fictional bigots b/c the author censored big chunks of the text, presumably as an act of kindness to readers

a quote-tweet above the MC's coming-out tweet. Though most of the text is obscured, the bigotry is felt.

again,
a quote-tweet above the MC's coming-out tweet. Though most of the text is obscured, the bigotry is felt.

and once again,
a quote-tweet above the MC's coming-out tweet. Though most of the text is obscured, the bigotry is felt.

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 24

ladies, please get off twitter it's not healthy for anyone, including recently-hatched queers, or translators who need a magnifying glass and high-res .tifs to process your doomscrolling feed

6 manga panels, showing a woman looking at responses to her post about coming out as a lesbian on "Tweeter". Some are positive, but she's focusing on the haters. Wow, couldn't be me! ;)

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 24

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (ostensibly a cooking manga) is a stealth PSA about a smorgasbord of progressive concepts related to sex, gender, mental health had to research "amatonormativity" today! (the societal assumption that everyone is better off in exclusive romantic relationships)

while a sandy-haired person looks on, a dark-haired woman is visibly raging, saying:

"This rotten society’s to blame for forcing us to label ourselves when we diverge in any way from the strict gender binary, heteronormativity, and even the amatonormative paradigm!"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 23

bought a garage sale grill two years ago, finally borrowed a propane tank from friends last week, did some h-mart kalbi for my first-ever grilling 😋 (paired with a surimi/cuke/avo salad)

Raw kalbi short ribs on a grill, under the dappled light through a tree

the mostly grilled kalbi, still on the grill

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 18

the kind of bonkers choice (likely) hard-mandated by Japan that gives localizers hives how about a different, contextually apt American city name that hadn't been run through a woodchipper— ...Phoenix! ...Phoenixia/Phoenicia? Phoenixvania? Phoenixistan? www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

excerpt from a Jason Schreier bloomberg article about The Adventures of Elliot:

"But the game’s producer, Naofumi Matsushita, says it has a different origin story. “It was not because of Philadelphia,” he said in a recent interview, speaking through a translator.

Instead, the name came from the Japanese word for “Firebird,” said director Shota Fukebaru, to which they added “dia” as a suffix, arriving at “Firabierudia.” (A firebird plays a significant role in the game’s world.) The final translation from Square Enix eventually came out as Philabieldia.

“We thought about a way that would make it sound cool in Japanese,” said Fukebaru. “And so that’s how we landed on that name.”"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 16

also pleased with "for free" for 代償なし (spoiler for RuriDragon ch47 story content)

Ruri, writhing on the ground and clutching her smoking hand, says "Yeeeowch!! What the hell?!"

A dragon looms in the background, while Ruri says "Why's it gotta hurt so bad? Thanks for nothing, dragon biology!!" "Could I pleeease fire off a single attack for free? Is that too much to ask?!"

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 16

oh nice, this line survived 💀🏃

Ruri from RuriDragon looking unconfident and thinking "Better hit the bricks."

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 15

the wall expands

a wall in a stairwell with signed photos from 12 Lord of the Rings actors.
Gollum's frame is slightly askew goddamit

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 14

great artist alley in Denver, too

Top left: art print of a Porygon2 production line done im 3D modeling.
Top mid: charm of Saul and Kim Wexler
Mid mid: charm of Kris Deltarune.
Top right: print of a craypas piece of Diddy w/boombox at the end of Pirate Panic in DKC2.
Bottom left: print of a painting of a guy's POV in the bathtub, looking at his feet and Mega Man and enemies from Bubble Man's stage.
Bottom right: print of a craypas piece of pink yoshi and baby mario from Yoshi's Island.

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 14

got two more for the autograph wall at Fan Expo Denver! big ones left: Liv Tyler (doable), Cate Blanchett (unlikely), Viggo (nigh impossible), Sean Bean (impossible)

two framed and signed photos.
The left is Miranda Otto as Eowyn.
The right is Orlando Bloom as Legolas.

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 4

thank god for easy 1:1 calques tho

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 4

[fuyo~ = ghostly floating SFX] > fuyou = "Unneeded!" (vs. Necessary) >>> "Boo... Boo..." > "Boot it!" (vs. Keep it) sometimes I ask my gf to help brainstorm loc solutions to these Animal Crossing jokes-from-hell, and this is one of hers :)

two Animal Crossing humans are hunting for Wisp's spirit pieces, and they think they hear the spirit pieces floating

Raymond the cat is sorting belongings into two boxes- necessary vs. unneeded

Cal C@cdcubed· Jun 2

koshi> lower back senaka> upper back proud of this one. went with upper instead of mid (which could be valid too) mostly for comedic flow

Ruri and mom are hiking in the woods. Mom complains about her lower and upper back killing her. Ruri says her feet hurt.

Cal C@cdcubed· May 14

I don't always make a kitted-out clay figure of the protagonist from an indie game, but Kosugi Lemeza from La-Mulana joined that pantheon

Kosugi Lemeza from La-Mulana, in clay figure form. He's standing on an ancient-ruins-looking base and is equipped with nearly every treasure and weapon you find in the game, including:

-Whip (in right hand)
-Axe
-Katana
-Key Sword (all three on back)
-Knife (in left hand)
-Shuriken
-Rolling Shuriken
-Chakram (interchangeable, in pouch on belt)
-Caltrops (on floor)
-Pistol (on right hip)
-Bomb (on belt near middle)
-Flare Gun (next to Bomb)
-Earth Spear (on left hip; see inset alternate view)
-Angel Shield (attached to left arm; see alternate view)
-MSX computer (in left hand)
-Ice Cape (fringe is visible under left arm)
-Isis Pendant
-Crucifix (hanging at chest)
-Hand Scanner (strapped to chest on left side)
-Ring (on right index finger)
-Glove (on left hand)
-Bracelet (on left wrist)
-Grapple Claw (on right hand)
-Gauntlet (on right forearm)
-Spaulder (on right shoulder)
-Hermes' Boots (on feet)
-Fairy Clothes (on torso)

The MSX and knife can also be swapped out for a plate of curry rice w/spoon (see inset image)

My clay figures of indie game protags.

Clockwise from the right, there's Tim from Braid, Limbo boy, Lemeza Kosugi from La Mulana, Isaac from The Binding of Isaac, Frisk/Chara from Undertale, Meat Boy from Super Meat Boy, The Kid from I Wanna Be The Guy, Captain Viridian from VVVVVV, and Quote and Curly Brace from Cave Story.

Cal C@cdcubed· May 14

in this version, the kukri came to the convent via an Indian soldier who, with others, rebelled against the Brits when they gave the locals rifle cartridges (need to be bitten off) made w/paper coated w/beef/pork tallow, thereby violating religious beliefs, so they rebelled with knives

a historical-looking scene of Hindu and Muslim-coded soldiers in India fighting British soldiers. The Brits have guns, while the Indian soldiers are wielding kukri knives

Cal C@cdcubed· May 14

Shin'ichi Sakamoto's lefty Dracula gets even wilder vampire Jon Harker clocks two lesbian nuns and is like "your awesome lgbtq+ status reminds me of my dead trans friend, who was my osanajimi's lover, and who I need to avenge by killing MJ Drac" and the boss lesbian gives him a kukri to do the job

Jon Harker tells two nuns that his demonic powers of sexiness should make him irresistible to all women...
...EXCEPT women who are more interested in each other

Jon Harker, naked, muscly, and wrapped in a bedsheet, tells the lesbian nuns that he was nearly overtaken by the darkness, but their impressive lesbianism reminded him of a dear friend

Jon Harker envisions himself using the lesbians' kukri knife to decapitate Michael Jackson Dracula

Cal C@cdcubed· May 13

v3: the ghost of Van Helsing seems to use the word "ajito" when summoned by the Ouija board. v6: Mina notes Jo casually using "ajito" while otherwise speaking English. v7: Mina accuses Jo of faking the seance(s). He thought ajito was an English loanword in JPN, but it's from the Russian agitpunkt.

in DRCL: Midnight Children, volume 3:
a ouija board has illuminated letters spelling out "AJITO". Mina finds this odd/curious.

Three volumes later, in an unrelated conversation, Jo Suwa uses the word "ajito" in the middle of an English sentence. Mina once again takes note of this.

In a Japanese-style home, in a dream, a shadowy fusion of Mina and Jo Suwa's mother explains to him that his use of "ajito" in the seance revealed that he was faking the summoning and was in fact moving the planchette himself, because "ajito" is from Russian and is never used in English. Ergo, the ghost of Van Helsing the Dutchman would certainly not use it.

Cal C@cdcubed· May 12

made a Shuckle amigurumi (pattern from www.loopycathrine.com ) #shuckle #crochet