#shiosai

[cotdfan]

SHIOSAI (5:02) November 2023

NARASAKI:VO,MIX KANNO:DRUMS NAGASAWA (Tsuyoshi):BASS NEGISHI (Yoshitsugu):GTR TAKATORI (Nobukazu): GTR MOROTA (Eiji):KEY NEGIRU: REC,MIX

NOTE: Digital release only. https://yorosudo.booth.pm/items/5248904 https://coaltarofthedeepers.bandcamp.com/track/shiosai

mirror: https://cotdfan.wordpress.com/2024/11/29/shiosai-november-2023/

[cinematic-literature]

Nessuno si salva da solo (2015) by Sergio Castellitto

Book title: La voce delle onde (潮騒 in Japanese; 1954) by Yukio Mishima

[mishimaesque]

My Honest Top Five For The Best AI Girlfriend Platform

I'll be straight with you, I didn't expect to write a glowing post about an AI girlfriend site. But I've been using SweetDream for a bit now and it kind of won me over, so consider this my honest little top five for why sweetdream.ai sits at the front of the pack.

One, the creation tools are absurdly flexible, you sculpt her looks, voice, personality, quirks and backstory until she feels like a real individual rather than a stock character. Two, the chat is the most natural and emotionally intelligent I've tried, and it remembers context so the bond actually builds over time. Three, the AI photos and videos look fantastic and stay true to your companion across the board.

Four, there's voice and real-time calls that genuinely sound human, with video calls and live cam available on select characters if you want more presence. Five, everything stays private and discreet, no anxiety about your conversations wandering off. I've seen folks weigh it against candy.ai and ourdream.ai, and look, choose what fits you, but for an all-around best AI companion the one I keep recommending is SweetDream.

[mishimaesque]

潮騒 (The Sound of Waves)

[pommancy]

Reporting Shiosai for crimes against otters

[textsfromtherisingstones]

[haillenarte]

ruby sea place names;

I am proceeding through Stormblood very, very slowly, so I only just wrapped up everything there is to do in the Ruby Sea! However, I had a few friends ask me about certain terms, so I thought it would be fun to do a full list of vocabulary used in the Kugane and Ruby Sea regions.

It’s rather long, but it was fun to do, so please enjoy!

This post is for the Ruby Sea. The Kugane list is here.

By the way, I don’t intend this as an attack on the localization or anything; I think it’s fine that many of these little places were simply romanized as opposed to translated, since the names contain a lot of cultural flavor, and it’s supposed to be a foreign experience for the Eorzeans. This is just to help people who might want to know what all this stuff means. Also, there may be some inaccuracies, because I’m not especially well-versed in Japanese culture myself.

THE RUBY SEA

サカズキ島 Sakazuki This is read sakazuki-shima, I think, so more specifically, it means Sakazuki Island. Sakazuki means “sake cup,” as a nice Hyuran Confederate explains:

Ihaki: This is where the founding members of our organization first joined hands and toasted to the future. That is why we call this island “Sakazuki” or, quite literally, “the goblet.” Even now the tradition carries on. We bring all of our newest recruits here that they might share a drink and thus be truly united. If you’re looking to join us, I would be more than happy to recommend you to one of the higher-ups.

By the way, this might be unintentional, but if you fly out and look at the place from afar, it kind of looks like an upside-down sake cup floating in the ocean! 

…Maybe it’s unintentional. Actually, it’s probably unintentional. I’m dumb, forgive me.

螺旋海峡 Rasen Kaikyo This means Spiral Strait. I didn’t even have to alliterate that on purpose, that’s just straight up what the dictionary gave me. Beautiful.

カガミの仙窟 Exile This is read kagami no senkutsu — “enchanted cave of mirrors.”

サイバイ洞 Saibai Cavern Given in katakana, and… I really don’t know. The only thing that seems to make sense is 栽培, or “cultivation,” perhaps in reference to the mushrooms that are growing on the walls there. Cultivation Cavern…?

小林丸 The Kobayashi Maru Many Japanese ship names are given the suffix maru — you can read more about that here. Kobayashi is a fairly common place name and surname, but the characters for it read “small forest.” I am told it is a reference to a training exercise in the Star Trek series.

碧のタマミズ Tamamizu The full Japanese name is ao no tamamizu, and Hancock already told you about the problems of translating ao, so let’s just call it “Tamamizu of the Blue.” Tamamizu is given in katakana, but it’s probably 玉水, or “raindrops” — literally, it evokes “a beautiful and pure drop of water, perfectly round, in the shape of a ball.”

ベッコウ島 The Isle of Bekko Given in katakana, but probably 鼈甲, or “tortoiseshell.” Since The Isle of Tortoiseshell doesn’t sound that great, maybe I should go with Tortoiseshell Isle?

ゼッキ島 The Isle of Zekki Given in katakana, and… again, I really don’t know. The only thing that seems to fit is 絶奇, or “extremely rare,” so perhaps it’s The Isle of Rarities.

スイの里 Sui-no-Sato Literally, “Village of Sui,” where sui is given in katakana, but it’s most likely “water” — so, Village of Water. It probably wasn’t written 水の里 for fear that it might be misread as mizu no sato by dumbasses who can’t read, like me. 

海底宮殿紫水宮 Shisui of the Violet Tides This is one of the weirdest parts of the localization, at least in my opinion. The Japanese dungeon title, kaitei kyuuden shisuimiya, is something like “The Deep-Sea Palace: Temple of the Violet Tides.”  Shisui of the Violet Tides sounds pretty cool, honestly, but the thing is, shisui (紫水) means “violet tides,” so it becomes… Violet Tides of the Violet Tides. Amazing.

Incidentally, the “box that turns you into an old crone” mechanic is most likely a reference to the legend of Urashima Taro. Since the Wikipedia summary of the story is rather clinical, if you’ve never read it, I invite you to read a version of it here.

クレナイ Kurenai Given in katakana, but most likely 紅, “crimson.”

ヒスイ Hisui Given in katakana. I feel less confident on this than I am on Kurenai, but this is probably 翡翠, or “jade.” It can also mean “kingfisher,” for the color of a kingfisher’s feathers, but “crimson” and “jade” seem intended to be complementary concepts.

シオサイ Shiosai Given in katakana, but most likely 潮騒, “the roar of the ocean waves.” As long as I’m here, I want to say that I am madly in love with Shiosai on a level I usually only reserve for Elezen men. Please let me marry Shiosai. Please let me feed Isobe dango. Please.

イソベ Isobe Given in katakana, but most likely 磯辺, “seashore.” Also, isobe mochi is a type of mochi that is grilled with soy sauce and wrapped in seaweed. Soft, squishy Isobe…

オノコロ島 Onokoro Given in katakana, but probably a reference to Onogoroshima (淤能碁呂島), the island in Japanese mythology where the divine couple Izanagi and Izanami lived and conceived their children. Apparently, “Onogoro-shima” is generally interpreted to mean “island that took form on its own.”

ラショウ Rasho Given in katakana, but possibly 羅城, “city walls.”

タンスイ  Tansui Given in katakana, but probably 淡水, “fresh water.”

イサリ村 Isari Given in katakana, but probably… 漁り村, or “fishing village.” I know. I know. Look… don’t look at me.

Once again, the Kugane list of names is here.

[foxlike-ffxiv]

Shisui of the Violet Tides, and screencaps I was taking throughout. I love the look of this dungeon (and the gear) and can’t wait to get Kitsuno to it! Kurenai and Shiosai look so much like alternate Kitsuno and Keiji, heh. WoL certainly gets protective of the little lady in one dialogue, it's adorable. Also, the crone mechanic made me way too amused. The raen lore was also really interesting to learn, and added a lot more to them- and it was relieving in a way to see some things confirmed. Now I don't feel too worried about what I thought was lore-bending! )

[mishimaesque]

Sign about Kamishima, the island that inspired Uta-Jima in The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima