#My FunNen

[don-dake]

暫時性嘅幸福

(雖然上次嘅博客篇已經講過，錄緊呢種 「購買篇章」 其實都冇咩意思，幾無聊嘅…但係，喺我目前嘅現實生活中，算係有一啲有趣味之事，的確只有咁多。冇辦法呀！我目前嘅生活就係噉無聊！但係，為咗練習多一啲中文同倉頡輸入法，就算幾無聊都好，都應該繼續錄博客篇，繼續練習落去！）

現實生活可以係一個好殘酷嘅地方。為咗可以忘記生活中唔開心之事，就算好清楚只係賺緊暫時性嘅撫慰罷了，每個人都會有佢哋自己嘅應付法。

而我其中使用嘅方法之一就係收集玩具。其實講到做一個玩具收藏家，我諗我都未算到 「大師」 階層地步。我都冇噉嘅打算喎！（笑）我只係耐耐一次，收集啲對自己有意義同記念價值嘅玩具罷了！

講到呢度，嚟介紹一下我屋企最新嘅成員吧！

PopUp Parade 雲母！

近日前終於到達！其實仲有七寶在內，只不過未攞佢出嚟罷了…對唔住嘞七寶！但係我想欣賞雲母多一陣，第日先攞你出嚟玩吧！（笑）

至於雲母，估唔到佢竟然會咁堅固，咁重喎！單單佢一隻，就已經有差唔多600克咁重，仲未計埋佢冚唪唥嘅包裝添！

今次係我第一次試買個PUP公仔返嚟，所以品質呢方面，有幾好幾壞都唔係好清楚。聽過幾位收藏家講過，生成出嚟嘅PUP公仔素質可以好唔話得埋嘅！決定買嗰陣，就準備要賭一鋪嘞。好彩，今次好似賭贏咗！

真係好滿意，好鍾意佢嘅所有喎！重量，質感，表情…特別係佢散發出嗰種安寧嘅氣氛。似嗰個第二次世界大戰，英國政府宣傳過嘅海報所講過，後來都變成當紅嘅迷因：「Keep Calm & Carry On」。只不過要改口話 「Keep Calm & Kirara On」 嘞！（笑）

犬夜叉好開心，只要佢唔好太過份亂咁舂，佢終於可以同一隻大隻嘅雲母一齊修練武功嘞！但係，恐怕會忽略到某一位 「天照大神」 喎！怪唔得佢而家嬲爆爆緊啦！（笑）「大神母」 呀，唔使咁氣沖沖喎…犬夜叉依然仲係你嘅朋友喎！你唔好咁霸道同幼稚啦！嚟同雲母做個朋友吧！（笑）

好鍾意雲母嘅🐾肉墊🐾喎！

新詞：

撫慰 (🇭🇰🇲🇴 fu² wai³, 🀄 ㄈㄨˇ•ㄨㄟˋ)，

階層 (🇭🇰🇲🇴 gaai¹ cang⁴, 🀄 ㄐㄧㄝ•ㄘㄥˊ)，

話得埋 (🇭🇰🇲🇴 waa⁶ dak¹ maai⁴)，

迷因 (🇭🇰🇲🇴 mai⁴ jan¹, 🀄 ㄇㄧˊ•ㄧㄣ)，

亂咁舂 (lyun⁶ gam³ zung¹)，

肉墊 (🇭🇰🇲🇴 juk⁶ zin³, 🀄 ㄖㄡˋ•ㄉㄧㄢˋ)

[don-dake]

“The Two Doctors of Darkness”↷

ブラック・ジャック (Black Jack), Osamu Tezuka

[jesawyer]

Hi Josh, thanks for taking our questions. You may remember my question years ago about morality in tough circumstances. Anyways, I've done some pretty huge mods for Deadfire classes (The Funnening mods) and was wondering if you could ask someone to create a tutorial on how to alter VFX and save it as a new identity? Currently we know how to change armor but a bug in Unity prevented new asset entries. Now the bug is gone. It would be killer for this game. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, Keemt.  I’ve talked to some of the devs who would be most likely to know how.  They’re on the Grounded project now, so it may take a while before they have some free time, but I’ll keep asking.

[don-dake]

Ammy: ??? ??? Psylock! *chew* *chew* *chew* *chew*…

(stop chewing the witness stand, Ammy-sama!)

Sammy: AWOoooo～！

(Good luck getting any sense out of these two, Feenie and Edgey!)

Capcom コラボ?! 大神 × 逆転裁判…

(Capcom collaboration?! Okami × Gyakuten Saiban…I wish!)

[don-dake]

Seeing double, Ammy-sama? Sammy-sama (aka Shiranui) is finally here!

Inuchi: Daikon for you? Compliments from my boss, Ammy-sama…(Inuchi is unsure of the new guy)

Ammy: Me, myself and Inuchi!

Inuchi: Something feels wrong with this picture…

Home-made 稲荷寿司 (inarizushi), food for the Gods…Sammy-sama chose a good day to arrive today! ｡◕‿◕｡

[don-dake]

'Tis the Season of Giving…

So Edward's making good on that!

Edward: You hungry, doggy?

Sammy: I'll have you know! I'm not a ‘doggy’! I'm a wolf! A Go–…*sniff sniff* Oh my! That smells good!…*nom nom nom*

Edward: Good doggy!

Sammy: *nom nom nom* (too busy scarfing to protest)

So much for being a ‘God’, you Big Sellout! Heh!

[don-dake]

「冬甩」 (同佢嘅龍仔朋友) 終於可以試一啲真嘅冬甩囉！味道如何啊？（笑）有一排冇食到冬甩嘞，所以錄咗呢一刻做個紀念。呢個牌子嘅冬甩唔會好甜，麵包口感幾軟熟，唔會好硬，朱古力味道都啱啱好，最適合我呢啲 「老人家」 吃啦！（笑）

價錢仲幾合理添。四個三蚊，平均講就係七角半一個冬甩。而家呢個年代喺呢度好難搵到賣咁平嘅冬甩啦！好抵囉！食落肚都覺得開心啲！（笑）

另外一方面，「薯仔車」 便在食緊佢 「最後一餐」。對唔住喔…「薯仔仔」！但因為你嘅清理過程好麻煩 (邊個叫你係毛茸茸材料造成嘅呢…），所以無辦法，為咗可以保養你而家乾乾淨淨嘅形狀，你必須要返去盒入面。唔好喊啦！第時可以再出嚟玩嘅！（笑）

新詞：抵 (dai2), 平均 (ping4 gwan1)

[don-dake]

Hey Bast! You're in for a treat today! Got some 核桃酥 (walnut cookies) and 馬仔 aka 薩騎馬 (sachima) to share!

Tea-time with Bast…but wait! What's this?!

*🐾 someone's trying to sneak away🐾* What's that on your back, wolf?! Stop thief!

Uh-oh…jig's up, Ammy! You've been caught with your paws in the cookie jar! *Ammy gulps, runs faster*

Now while the (cosplay) cat's away (chasing the thieving wolf)…the cosplay dogs (with pets) come out to play eat!

[don-dake]

“How the 12 Chinese Zodiacs came to be” — a play put up by ‘Uncle Stitchy’ and the Tsums.

Hey Goofball Goofy! Stop goofing up the photos will ya? *Goofy is forever lost and confused*

[don-dake]

Ammy: What's this?!

That's 鹹煎餅, Ammy-sama, it's like a salty doughnut.

Ammy: Ammy-sama wanna try! *unceremoniously starts gobbling*

Watch how many you eat, Ammy-sama! One can get sick eating too many of these!

*not listening at all, too busy gorging*

★★★ hours later, late in the night ★★★

Ammy-sama starts bellyaching, in all sense of the word…

Ammy: Inuchi! Sesshi! Help! My tummy hurts! AWOOoooo!

Lucky for Ammy-sama, minions Inuchi and Sesshi (or really just Inuchi) are at the ready with some ointment to soothe bellyaches. But how embarrassing and unbecoming for a Goddess! (≧▽≦)

[don-dake]

Tuk Tuk & Appa can finally have their long-awaited 龍眼 (longan) party! Unfortunately, it's not without some party-crashers…

Haven't had fresh 龍眼 in eons (we usually stick to canned ones because it's less hassle), but thanks (lately) to Tuk Tuk (& co.), relieved the joys of tasting this delicious naturally sweet fruit while also having to put up with sticky fingers…well it was worth it, I guess! (^^)

[don-dake]

AwOoo!

With no help from my “little Gods” (you can stop feeling so smug now, Sammy and Bast! You guys didn't assist with reading anything at all! 笑), I have finally managed to finish reading 《雨と夢のあとに ～ Ame to Yume no Ato ni》 this week! v(^^)

Almost a decade after getting my hands on this translated copy, and about one and a half months since dusting it up and letting it see the light of day again, I can finally strike this off my “to read” list!

Now for the inevitable comparison of novel vs. TV series adaptation, I'd say the novel “Ame Yume” differs from the TV series quite a fair bit!

For one, the cast of characters in the novel is significantly less than in the series; besides Ame and Tomoharu of course, only Ame's biological mother, Ame's friend, Hokuto, and their neighbour Koyanagi Akiko featured in the novel.

No “ghost-of-the-day” (per the series) needing and seeking help from Ame and co. either. Way less ghosts in the novel than the series actually added.

Characterization of the characters are also vastly different from their TV counterparts. Ame is 12 instead of 15-going-on-16, instead of a 20-something year-old son of a family friend helping to run his father's pub, Hokuto in the novel is also 12 and a schoolmate of Ame's. Ame's mother is just a regular woman, not some popular cosmopolitan singer.

Akiko's occupation is never really made clear, not a picture book illustrator like in the series, probably just a regular OL (office lady). Akiko in the novel also comes across as a more unhinged person, and the discovery of her secret (not adding major spoilers, even though this story is almost two decades old now) is a lot more dark and described in more graphic, gruesome detail.

Ame and Tomoharu's father-daughter relationship also seems a lot more complicated than the TV series simplified into. There were moments when I thought their closeness seems almost incestuous! Or perhaps it's just that I've never encountered nor experienced a close father-daughter relationship like theirs that I find such displays of affection between them to be well, kind of weird.

I don't really know…is it usual for a daughter to think to call her father (even in a teasing, joking manner), “my Darling”? Or for a father to call his daughter (also in a teasing manner) “his little housekeeper”? They sure seem like things a married couple would say to each other than a father-daughter pair!

And for all their supposed closeness and love for each other, this father sure had no qualms about leaving his 12 year-old daughter home alone for weeks, while he goes gallivanting out of the country for a frivolous purpose like catching butterflies!

This is one aspect the TV adaptation did better I guess! Making Ame an older character and giving her and her father a network support of family and friends so Tomoharu doesn't seem like such an irresponsible parent! Heh!

All in all, I'd say I enjoyed the series adaptation more; I liked the addition of Tomoharu's parents and his friends at the pub who together, created a found-family vibe about them. The “ghost-of-the-day” formula also worked pretty well for TV and together with the pub characters, brought some welcome humour that was not in the novel.

I also preferred the portrayal and treatment of the Akiko character more in the series. Koyanagi Akiko became my favourite character when I first saw the series all those years back, and it was this role of hers that made me really notice Kimura Tae as more than a minor supporting actor.

Akiko was also a lot closer to the Sakurais (Ame and Tomoharu) in the series than in the novel and her departure was felt more acutely.

But I do still like the novel as well. This is not exactly a “one is better than the other” situation, it's more of a “can't compare apples and oranges” issue. It's just different.

The novel definitely has a more serious tone to it and has darker themes and, knowing a little of the author's background and her tendency to write about dysfunctional characters and situations, one can understand why her novel is not as “family-friendly” as the TV series.

The only issue I have is a translation problem, and it may only be my bad luck and affects my particular issue/copy. :(

In Japanese, the name ‘Tomoharu’ can be written with a variety of Kanji (Chinese characters). In this instance, the author had chosen the Kanji 朝晴 for ‘Tomoharu’. 朝陽 is another alternative to this name and in my translated copy, 朝陽 was wrongly used more than a few times when it should have been 朝晴!

This mistake can even be seen right off the bat in the obi (the strip of paper wrapped round a book for extra advertising, sometimes known as a belly-band, that is typically found with books of Japanese origin) description!

That's the only thing that irked me; was everyone, from the translator to the proofreaders, sleeping on the job? How could an obvious mistake like this happen more than a couple of times and be approved for final print?!

Anyway, now that I've finished my third Chinese language novel in three months (a record for me!), I think I'll take a break from Chinese language novels for a while. My “banana” brain needs a breather! (笑)

Definitely reading something in the English language next! (笑) I have got my eye on another Yū Miri work that I only recently learned has an English translation! Time to head to the library soon? Or more likely the bookshop. I think it's likely I'd be more satisfied with a copy of my own for keeps! I have a feeling I'm going to love this other work of hers too!

Okay…rambled long enough to myself (mostly). Good exercise for the brain at the very least, to write something that's more than a one-liner in a caption…heh!

[don-dake]

殤不患：《公仔麵》？喂阿柏！有 《公仔麵》 食哩！最適合我哋呢啲公仔食嘅！仲係牛肉味添！我嘅最愛！

Shang Buhuan: Doll* Noodles? Hey Appa! There's Doll Noodles to be had! Best suited for toys* like us! And it's beef flavour too! My favourite!

阿柏：係咩？…咪住！「勁辣牛肉味」 ？！

Appa: Oh really?…Hold it! “Superbly Spicy BEEF Flavour” ?!

阿柏：你敢食我就同你絕交！

Appa: You eat that and we're no longer friends!

殤不患：… …（其實好想食嘅）

Shang Buhuan: … … (actually really wanting to eat)

Appa, you a “beefeater” prefect now? Haha…poor Shou (Shang)! No beef noodles for you! 😛 (No photo of cooked product since I didn't want my noodles getting cold and congealed while messing with a photoshoot)

*公仔 (gung1 zai2) can mean 'doll', 'plush toy’ or just 'toy figure' in general, in Cantonese. 《公仔麵》 is a popular brand of instant noodles in Hong Kong.

[don-dake]

Homemade 稲荷寿司 (inarizushi) for Inari, my plushie friend, from which he got his name. 🐶

And of course…Ammy-sama had to nose her way in…

Ammy: How could you not offer Ammy-sama some?! Ammy-sama's a Goddess you know!

Yes, Goddess Ammy…as you've never failed to remind us!

[don-dake]

A new Goddess arrived recently. Meet *Bastet (aka Bast) and her many alter egos…

Look, Ammy-sama! There's a new Goddess on the block and you should be frien–

Hey! Ammy-sama, what are you doing?!

Bastet (unfazed by Ammy-sama): Don't ever disturb my beauty sleep, got that, dog?

Ammy-sama: $#@?! I'm a wolf you nitwit! No wait! Make that a GODDESS!

Bastet: Dog, wolf, all the same to me! Cats are waaay better anyway! And I'm a Goddess with a fancy throne and lots more stuff at my disposal!

What have you got? Just a lousy ‘gas hob’ (Ammy-sama's Solar Flare) and a ‘swimming floaty ring’? Step aside Gas Hob Pooch! I can ‘out-Goddess’ you any day! Heh!

Now, for calling me a ‘nitwit’, possibly damaging my boat, and my sarcophagus cryo chamber…APOLOGIZE! Kowtow to me… *smirks*

Ammy-sama: $#@?! Did you just call me a gas hob?! $#@?!

Bastet: Like some milk? You must be thirsty from all that yapping! Here, have some…oh wait, it's ‘CAT MILK’ see? For cats! You a cat? I don't think so! *smirks*

Ammy-sama: !!!

Bastet: *Quick Change*

Ammy-sama: ???

Ammy-sama is confused by Bastet's Sphinx disguise! Oh c'mon Your Highnesses! Play nice! Both of you could be considered cousins already, two sides of the same coin, Goddess(es) of the Sun and all that, you know?

Yes Ammy-sama…your Divine Behind™ is just as cute as Bastet's. Yes, yes, yes, you are both cute all round okay? Don't make me choose! (ﾉ≧∇≦)ﾉ ﾐ ┻━┻

* Bastet figure design based on this → famous statue.

[don-dake]

Ammy-sama 終於可以自己試一試呢個叫 「老婆餅」 嘅嘢囉！而且，冇個隻蠢狗犬夜叉嚟黐住我！哈哈哈！

新字：黐 (ci1)