#Rassicas speaks

[rassicas]

splatoon fandom: please. someone please translate the marina acht story. please me: now hold on. wouldn't you guys rather read a boring newspaper article about the development of crableg capital. because i would

[rassicas]

When I first learned of Memory of No.----- on pixiv, I thought "this comic looks so crazy good. I'd love to share it with people, but it's not like i can typeset at all, or even translate all of it on my own, and im not sure id be able to get the authors permission either... an english translation of it seems like nothing more than a pipe dream." that was back in 2021. here we are 3 years later, and thanks to the work of merrodi and trisloshr, and the extra help from roach (who introduced me to the comic in the first place), Memory of No.----- has a complete english translation. I'm glad to have been a part of this project. We worked hard to translate it all, and of course, sorobochi-san worked even harder to create the story and draw it all. I highly recommend that you give it a read!

Memory of No.----- has now been completed.

Below are the last four chapters of the comic.

Chapter 31-32 (��� Warning for gore)

Chapter 32.5

Chapter 33

Chapter 34 (ENDING)

Story and artwork by sorobochi English translation by rassicas and trisloshr Typesetting by merrodi SFX Redraws by roachgore

We received permission from sorobochi-san to translate this splatoon fan comic. Please look through this blog if you want to read the earlier chapters. Out of respect to the original author, please do not repost any part of this comic.

There's also really awesome ending art for chapter 34 that will be released later.

Thank you for reading.

This multi-year team project has finally come to a close. I wanted to get everything done by the anniversary that sorobochi wrote their last letter, so I'm really happy that everything came into place. (past the last chapter credit art)

Special thank you to the team: Rassicas, Trisloshr and Roachgore, who go above and beyond in the quality of their work. They've been extremely receptive to my demands and without them this translation could not have been possible. And of course a thank you to you, the readers, for your unending support.

Since we first decided to start translating this manga, there's so much I've learned and such cool people I've been able to meet because of it. It's been a wonderful, terrific ride.

We still intend on translating more Sorobochi stuff in the future - I'll be getting to older chapters to update its quality. There's a cool Agent 4 comic I'm intent on typesetting. So keep an eye out. And get your friends to read this comic now that it's finished.

Okay, bye now.

[sideordertheories]

i HATE to insinuate that marina might be the villain of side order but like,,, i dunno guys...

ok so in this one developer interview (which was translated by rassicas) that i'll link at the end of this post something was mentioned about marina that was very interesting to me.

i'm not fully sure what this implies, but it shows that marina has the ability to go to a 'mysterious place' through 'mysterious connections' which when i saw this for the first time a while ago it immediately reminded me of side order. i know this is a direction that some people would hate for the dlc to go in,, but i really do think marina is in some way a villain. or at least her actions lead to something bad happening.

in the marina + marie + big man interview that comes with Splatune 3 (i'll link the wiki page at the end), marina says this:

which. is really. weird?

first of all, pearl & marina had an argument?? pearl LEFT HER??? & marina couldn't get in touch with her?? damn that sucks? why did pearl do that. like actually thats so sad to me cuz. isnt that what marina is terrified of? & now she just laughed it off? i imagine that maybe this put marina into maybe a bad mental state because it would do the same to me tbh. & then marina starts talking about a world of order beyond our comprehension?? marina what are you talking about !!!!

at the very least, all of this is foreshadowing. but its just stated by her in a way that makes me think she doesn't just THINK that there is another world, but that she knows there is. she's been shown to have "mysterious connections" to a "mysterious place", she speaks of a world of order (the dlc is called side ORDER & has basically been confirmed to have something to do with team order iirc) , she wants to construct a new frontier with the power of art? i think it's also worth mentioning she once said something about designing her perfect world in the final splatfest from splatoon 2

why would marina be evil? i actually don't know. but she for sure has SOMETHING to do with the inkopolis square seen in the trailer for side order. also the whole reason she chose order was because she didn't want pearl to leave her, because they might fall apart, because pearl might get bored of off the hook. guess what happened!!! she did get bored. they did fall apart, even if just for a while. & while its never said how marina felt about this, i don't think it could've been good. i think she thought that if they were falling apart, maybe the world would too. maybe she thought she could design her world of order, & if she did that, everything would be fine, pearl wouldn't leave her again. maybe the world she designed is the white inkopolis square. maybe in her pain she was also manipulated by a much worse villain (i'm really hoping its not tartar. i would prefer lil judd seeing as if he isnt the villain the whole thing of him taking over grizzco & wanting to kill judd would be unresolved.) but marina is definitely morally grey in this dlc at best & the more i think about it, marina being the villain would be kinda cool? also i could be fully wrong & marina isnt evil she just thinks a world of order would be interesting but i like the villain marina theory

sorry if this is less organized & more rambly i am throwing my thoughts out into the void without polishing them

links:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RBzlMSuG_vWv1isjQ6EJdXBp_uXTpogEc2rrGd2BM30/mobilebasic

[possum-down]

Splat 3 DLC

prefice this by saying NON OF THIS IS CONFIRMED. this is mainly what I PERSONALLY would want to see in the splatoon 3 dlc, and is supported only by my own observations of in-game occurrences, nintendo stuff, and the occasional dream. if any of this does make it into the dlc, id be stoked, but i am also pretty bad at guessing so

What do we know so Far?

Very little! the only thing actual confirmations we have for the dlc is that it is coming, and that its gonna feature marina and pearl in some way as shown in splatoon 3 direct. we haven’t gotten any plot details, what new features it would bring, or even a release date.

if were comparing it to octo expansion, which came out a little under a year after splat 2′s release, we could very well see the dlc be released by august or september. on the other hand, depending on the size of the dlc, it could also take longer, but judging just from how nintendo likes to push out game releases, im guessing itll come sooner rather than later.

What are the biggest theories right know?

Concerning the dlc’s actual content, most have concluded it’s going to be focused on a world tour kinda event. This is hinted at most obviously through sunken scroll 22, which states that “After leaping from Inkopolis Square to the world stage, Off the Hook has found their new side project: performing vocals for a rising rock band as Damp Socks feat. Off the Hook!” the conclusion from this is that DSft.OTH is currently touring, and that the main protagonist of the DLC will get wrapped up in that some how. This is admittedly a very vague and non-solid premise, but seeing that we know OTH is probably going to be a big part of the DLC, its the best we have to go on.

Another more recent conclusion is that nintendo will be introducing a third playable race, in the form of cuttlings. @rassicas has made a post concerning the evidence here, so i won’t go to much into that, but it seems somewhat likely. knowing that nintendo really likes to push the theme of numbers in splatoon (all the references to the number 8 in octo expansion, three idols for splatoon 3, etc.) i don’t think it would be that much of a stretch to assume they would add a third playable race and finally add the last cephalapod species to the game (also would let them have a squid vs octopus vs cuttlefish splatfest)

What do I hope/think is gonna be in the DLC?

Personally, i think the world tour event is not only the most likely option, but also the most fun option. Similar to how the main story mode of splatoon 3 has different islands to explore as you move between kettles, i think having different music venues where you could explore little slices of the bigger splatoon world would be not only fun, but expand the in-game lore as well. It could give the splatoon team an excuse to show diffrent places weve heard about (calamari county, the northern land the bottom feeders come from, etc), without having to model something as big as the squares.

the only argument i can see against this is “how would an antagonist fit into this” and the thing is, i don’t really think there needs to be an antagonist. or rather, i don’t think there needs to be a big bad antagonist. we have already had a world-threatening baddie in the form of mr. grizz, and im hoping that nintendo doesn’t try and push such a serious plot twice, even if it is a dlc. i think an antagonist in the form of a rival band maybe, or some mysterious occurrences that keep trying to ruin pearl and marinas concerts would be a much more believable (and fun) enemy to fight rather than another commander tartar. the reason people loved octo expansion so much was because it stood out from the base game and gave players new lore on the characters they loved. the splat 3 dlc could do the same, by focusing on untapped aspects like the splatbands rather than trying to create the world-defying mission octo expansion had

Speaking of the bands, i do find it interesting that nintendo recently localized the splatbands as well. Splatbands have been around since splatoon 1, but only were localized now to english and given americanized names. along with having harmony/paruko suddenly showing up as a shopkeep, i am hoping this is signaling that the splatbands are gonna play a larger role in the actual games. I don’t think nintendo is going to go as far as to model everyone, BUT i do think it could have the potential to be the collectable item/lore in the dlc. instead of getting sunken scrolls/mem cakes from completing diffrent levels, i think band merch would be a much cooler collectible that also ties into the world tour theme. having a diffrent opening band at each location that you could then collect merch of would give an excuse to finally flesh out the splatbands in game and present the lore to a wider player base.

i think the splatband localization could also tie in a different way however. walking around the square, i find this building next to man-o-wardrobe crush station weird.

its just stand out from the other non-enterable buildings, being so prominently placed next to two other shops, and also looking like its closed off for renovations. why have this building right next to the other two on the strip?

it could be possibly hinting at another store. while i did struggle to think about what else the game could possibly sell the player, i saw a post that presented the idea of a music store where you could buy cd/vinyls to pick which songs play during your turf and anarchy battles (i cannot find the post, but when i do i’ll link it here). i think this would be a great choice for a dlc shop, since picking the songs played during battles isn’t a game changer like new clothes or weapons, and rather works more as a quality of life improvement. and again, this could offer a way to give more splatbands lore in-game, with either descriptions or fun facts given when you purchase a cd like the op proposed.

tldr: i think the dlc is gonna be a world tour that focuses on the splatbands and introduces cuttlings as the new playable species whatever the dlc does turn out to be, i really hope it’ll be fun. it does have some high expectations to live up too seeing as how well octo expansion was recieved, but im hoping it'll do what splatoon does best: release some new banging tunes, and hint at gay cephalapods

[squidhominid]

'Localization as an artform' Twitter thread, 7/10/2021

Hey, heads-up to any aspiring creators out there. This is from personal experience as a YouTube ghostwriter, so listen up.

Translation is a creative effort. There is no 'correct' way to translate something, any translation involves interpretation of meaning and some degree of localization and original writing.

In the past I wrote content for Lockstin, analyzing the Splatoon franchise and its lore. And, I didn't realize the above. I thought, translation is translation, the text is what it is, no matter the language.

In the course of my research, I came across what I think was some translated passages from one of the art books. I did what I usually did: I took what I needed, wrote it into the script, and put the source into parenthetical notes for whoever edited the video.

Up to that point, I was mainly using translations from places like Inkipedia, and I did credit my sources, but due to this specific translation being from social media, I put a lower value cost on it; after all, it was 'just a fan translating stuff for other fans'.

I saw it as a public good and a service. I overlooked the creative effort of translation. Ironically, even though I was active in communities like Legends of Localization, I had not fully internalized the understanding of how much creative effort goes into translation.

Since then, I have learned. I have made friends in more places, talked with people more in-depth about this sort of work, and consumed content on the subject. Of note, I can credit obskyr for opening my eyes to the fact that translation is, itself, art and creation of art.

I feel like this idea, this belief that translation is a 'service' and not a 'creative effort', is also why we have seen a groundswell, especially lately, of people criticizing official translations for the use of terms like 'sus' or 'cancel' or other terms deemed 'incorrect'.

People think there is one, objective, unitary translation of a text, and the translator's job is to achieve that as a platonic ideal, an endpoint. This is nowhere near the truth. A thousand translators can look at a piece of text and come to a thousand different, valid results.

The translation achieved is the result of that person's worldview, their understanding of the origin culture, their understanding of the target culture, and most importantly I feel, their ability to recognize when things don't translate. And so, they synthesize.

They take things from one culture and seek out analogues. Things that 'feel' the same as the original intent, even though they are not the same. Think of translating Pokemon names, for instance.

In Japan, 'Torchic' is called 'Achamo'. Of course, nobody in the English-speaking world would be able to figure out that 'Achamo' is 'akachan', or baby, + 'shamo', a breed of chicken raised for Japanese cockfighting. But they understand 'torchic' is 'torch' + 'chick'.

Think of the effort that went into coming up with that name. It wasn't in literal text. Someone created that. Someone spent time thinking of that. That was creative work. Translation is creative work.

Treat translators as artists. If you're creating a video or an essay, credit them as if they're artists. For that matter, credit artists too if you don't! And ask both for permission! Translation is not a service with a correct or incorrect outcome. It never has been.

At this stage in my career I have nowhere near the reach I used to, and the person I wronged is possibly one of the biggest names in the fandom, so I can't achieve much by doing this, but if you have any interest in Splatoon lore, you need to be following Rassicas.

I also want to thank MarzGurl, whose tweets about anime and manga localization helped crystalize some of the ideas I've gone over here.

I know this is...incredibly off-script for a V-tuber Twitter, but, cut me some slack, I've always been a pretty forward and opinionated person. I just wanted to put this out into the world because since finding out about my error it's been on my mind.

Now, if you don't mind, I feel incredibly ill and I need to find the person responsible so I can tell them to make the room stop spinning.

[rassicas]

in all seriousness, i don't own the concept of translating splatoon lore. my thinking for years has been "man i wish there people who actually cared about translating splatoon lore...oh its been how many years and nobody has done it? my japanese sucks, but i guess I'll try and do it myself." so it's nice that now there ARE other people who care and share this ideal now, there's JP-only Splatoon content that not even I have time to get around to now. I like to see more people, like fia, trying to make this info accessible! The only time it's really bothersome to me is a careless translation, or if you're gonna tackle it with absolutely zero JP knowledge. i wouldnt be sharing fia's translations if both those things were true lol

youre kinda just rassicas but worse you should get your own niche instead of copying others

[rassicas]

what if in the splatoon world version of twitch, bits were called "chum"

....jk. no "what if". real lore from the new artbook

[rassicas]

I had a dream splatoon base updated the band pages.

In this dream, Riot Act had a secret 5th member who was a leafy sea dragon and looked cool, but that wasnt the biggest shock.

The previous pages got updated with new art in a different art style with scenes featuring bands members and Inklings and...

The cast of scooby doo.

Yes. Splatoon was doing a massive scooby doo collab. I remember in this dream was just me going thru the splatoon base website while my splatoon lore discord server was going nuclear over these developments

Things that happened include

-there was new art of riot act hanging out (including the new leafy sea dragon) but in the background there were random civilians that looked plausible for splatoon, and then... two that looked like anthropomorphic birds. me and the chat were freaking out like "DID BIRDS EVOLVE IN SPLATOON LIKE THIS AND EVERYTHING WE KNOW IS A LIE??? OR IS THIS A CHARACTER FROM A SCOOBY DOO MOVIE" and we had to assume the birds were scooby doo characters from some niche source because scrappy doo was also there in the background.

-for some reason, they dropped a height chart of shaggy, velma, fred, and daphne next to an Inkling. The inkling was given slightly different proprortions from how they look in game, and was drawn in the same art style as the rest of the mystery gang. Next to the inkling they had markers denoting the tallest possible height for an inkling, and that tallest height was still a bit shorter than velma. Discord server losing our minds because they used this fuckass collab to canonically confirm that inklings are smaller than humans.

[rassicas]

Thoughts on axolotls in the Splatoon world

On page 253 of the BancalaWalker artbook, we have confirmation of ancient Inklings and Octolings having used axolotls as livestock.

now, I'm thrilled about this because this is the very first mention in Splatoon canon of some water living creature evolving to be livestock animals! We really don't get a whole lot of mention of water dwelling creatures that have evolved to be like land animals in the Splatoon world. But then the wording implies that they don't use axolotls as livestock anymore...? the relationship. changed. huh. My first thought is that the relationship changed because axolotls became sentient...? but that would imply slavery... I think even for Splatoon, that is needlessly dark and probably not what they're going for at all. the best theory I heard (from @tangle-bottom in my discord server) is that maybe axolotls are akin to guinea pigs. Now a days, guinea pigs are primarily known as pets, but for thousands of years were originally cultivated in the Andes (and still are in that region) for their meat as livestock. So axolotls, like guinea pigs, may be now known more as pets to the Inklings rather than a food source...and maybe there's still some groups of people out in the world that still farm axolotls for meat on a small scale.

In this depiction, the inklings seems to be kneeling, and the axolotl seems to be the height of a medium dog. In real life, axolotls rarely exceed more than 30cm in length. I think this also opens the door for other amphibians to have evolved to be larger and to be a potential food source in the Splatoon world. i know frogs are edible, and frogs exist in splatoon (can be heard at brinewater springs)...I wonder if there's really big frogs they eat?

incidentally, sheldon has a merit badge with an axolotl on his apron in splatoon 2. this is the only other mention of axolotls in canon.

[rassicas]

What do you think is inside a canned special?

i have a theory that i have cooked up in my brain that i think is so Rock Fucking Solid that im looking forward to sharing in the near future (i mean it!! i have it typed out already!!) but for my own reference to see how many people are on the same train of thought as me or not, im curious what you guys think. feel free to answer in replies/reblogs

[rassicas]

i have one video i've been wanting to make about a certain splatoon lore topic so badly for some years now and i wanna do it soon. but every time i think about it i can feel myself going insane. there's so much i need to say. how do i structure this in a way that makes sense. does it even make sense at all. to me? god help me

[rassicas]

hi guys life updates:

im leaving japan in 4 days after being here for the past 2 years. unfortunately. moving out process has been Hell <3

good news is that i get to see my son (cat) again. bad news is i am probably gonna be stuck at home a lot because goodbye to my beloved walkable city and reliable public transit. I intend to go back to making videos to cope with being stuck in america again. and for Money. and because its something i enjoy doing

other news is ive started using bluesky. while twitter has already been hitting the shitter its really looking like the AI bullshit is the breaking point. im not stopping uaing tumblr or anything thats just another place you guys can find me.

[testimonypops]

Ohhhh I like you.. we should be friends, I’m actually re-educating myself on the splatoon band lore as we speak thanks to rassicas!

If you were asked what your favorite splatoon band is and you actually had an answer that was not ‘what the fuck are you talking about’ or ‘squid sisters, off the hook, or deep cut!’, just know that I love you so much you deserve everything in the world

[rassicas]

my mom sent me money on p*ypal the other day and she called my icon "my creature"

this is my icon i dont think she needs to know how much brainspace this creature of mine has been taking up for the past 7 or so years

[rassicas]

IT IS IN MY HANDS.... side note, i found my receipt for haikarawalker when i bought it back in 2018. the difference in shipping costs is crazy????

economy

[rassicas]

For a long time, I've seen people saying "Actually the water weakness is a mistranslation. inklings CAN go in water but they just cant swim! I saw this was in a dev interview" (For the record, this is bullshit, as the water weakness has been confirmed by the devs several times over the years.) I have to wonder where this idea started exactly, because despite hearing this exact thing since at least 2018...what's the source? Even I used to believe the "water weakness is bullshit in JP" thing too way back then before i had the ability to check for myself...but I don't remember where i heard it...? Like for the "Pearl was electrocuted" misinformation that was spread around for years, I can pinpoint the "source" to a particular tumblr post. But is there a patient zero for this "water weakness is a mistranslation" idea? like some tweet or tumblr post? or is it something multiple people came to the conclusion independently and spread around....

My best guess it that it came from a line in game like this about simply being unable to swim, and with how people think the water weakness is stupid and dont want to believe it, it spread from there?

But im not sure. To anyone who has heard this "water weakness isn't real" thing, genuinely, i want to know if you have seen a source! where did this come from!