mostly silly fandom stuff
Nov. 9th, 2021 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nnozomiIt's been a lousy few days--nothing at all serious, just, you know, stuff--so here are some random fannish things that have come to mind in the interim.
Ways in which reading fic has been helpful:
・I got stuck on a phrase in a translation on one computer, threw up my hands and turned to the other computer to read some MDZS/CQL fic, around the upper limit of explicit that I can deal with; having seen Jiang Cheng satisfied, I turned back to my work computer and the exact right phrase came to mind instantly. You never know what will come in handy. ;)
・Writing the weekly in-law postcard, I couldn't remember how to write the “ze” in “風邪” (as in "don't catch cold"), but luckily I had the DMBJ tag open, so I just glanced up and borrowed Wu Xie's name.
・Has anyone written a crossover between Rivers of London and Diana Wynne Jones? Because on reflection I feel like Nightingale basically is Chrestomanci, in terms of both job description and sartorial elegance (and even multiple lives, as it were).
・I got Yu-jie to listen to 纸短情长 to see how she, as a native speaker, interpreted the ambiguous 他/她 lyrics in the middle: her takes were “it’s about his girlfriend having been unfaithful, but he loves her anyway,” fair enough, and “朱一龙很帅啊,” yes indeed.
(My latest thoughts on Zhao Xinci, for china_shop and/or anyone else interested)
・It’s one of the worst things about the Zhao family tragedy that Shen Xi’s death pushed ZXC and ZYL irredeemably apart, instead of bringing them together. (Goes without saying that ZXC, as the adult and the parent, bears the lion’s share of responsibility for this, but as china_shop pointed out recently adjacent to her excellent ZXC/SX fic, it's also right that he too must have been going through hell, and that he's by no means cold-hearted or uncaring, just committed to a series of bad choices.) It’s like the Zhaos father and son both ended up believing that emotional vulnerability is dangerous and off the table, but expressing it in two totally different ways--neither of them talk to anyone about being emotionally upset or physically unwell, for all their interaction styles are so different.
Photos: Three views of cats with odd relationships with light, three views of sudachi that I just thought were pretty, flowers, mountains, and some cookies that would probably not sell well anywhere English is spoken.
Be safe and well.
Ways in which reading fic has been helpful:
・I got stuck on a phrase in a translation on one computer, threw up my hands and turned to the other computer to read some MDZS/CQL fic, around the upper limit of explicit that I can deal with; having seen Jiang Cheng satisfied, I turned back to my work computer and the exact right phrase came to mind instantly. You never know what will come in handy. ;)
・Writing the weekly in-law postcard, I couldn't remember how to write the “ze” in “風邪” (as in "don't catch cold"), but luckily I had the DMBJ tag open, so I just glanced up and borrowed Wu Xie's name.
・Has anyone written a crossover between Rivers of London and Diana Wynne Jones? Because on reflection I feel like Nightingale basically is Chrestomanci, in terms of both job description and sartorial elegance (and even multiple lives, as it were).
・I got Yu-jie to listen to 纸短情长 to see how she, as a native speaker, interpreted the ambiguous 他/她 lyrics in the middle: her takes were “it’s about his girlfriend having been unfaithful, but he loves her anyway,” fair enough, and “朱一龙很帅啊,” yes indeed.
(My latest thoughts on Zhao Xinci, for china_shop and/or anyone else interested)
・It’s one of the worst things about the Zhao family tragedy that Shen Xi’s death pushed ZXC and ZYL irredeemably apart, instead of bringing them together. (Goes without saying that ZXC, as the adult and the parent, bears the lion’s share of responsibility for this, but as china_shop pointed out recently adjacent to her excellent ZXC/SX fic, it's also right that he too must have been going through hell, and that he's by no means cold-hearted or uncaring, just committed to a series of bad choices.) It’s like the Zhaos father and son both ended up believing that emotional vulnerability is dangerous and off the table, but expressing it in two totally different ways--neither of them talk to anyone about being emotionally upset or physically unwell, for all their interaction styles are so different.
Photos: Three views of cats with odd relationships with light, three views of sudachi that I just thought were pretty, flowers, mountains, and some cookies that would probably not sell well anywhere English is spoken.
Be safe and well.
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Date: 2021-11-09 01:31 pm (UTC)I have no idea, and now I need it!
*hugs*
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Date: 2021-11-10 01:57 am (UTC)*hugs back*
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Date: 2021-11-09 02:26 pm (UTC)Depends on the demographic they're selling to. I can think of at least two populations that would be all over those. 😁
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Date: 2021-11-10 01:58 am (UTC)LOL, I wonder if anyone has informed the company of this potential marketing opportunity...
<3
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Date: 2021-11-09 07:09 pm (UTC)Haha, that's hilarious to me. :D
I got Yu-jie to listen to 纸短情长 to see how she, as a native speaker, interpreted the ambiguous 他/她 lyrics in the middle: her takes were “it’s about his girlfriend having been unfaithful, but he loves her anyway,” fair enough, and “朱一龙很帅啊,” yes indeed.
Oh, cool, thank you for that data point! Makes sense, yeah. I remain so fascinated with this kind of ambiguity. The 他/她 in combination with the elided subject really makes it Schrödinger's sentence. *g*
(Also, 朱一龙很帅啊 indeed, Yu-jie! :D)
and that he's by no means cold-hearted or uncaring, just committed to a series of bad choices
Yeah, this - he does care, he just expresses it in the worst possible way. (See that awful conversation where he tries to make ZYL throw CSZ under the bus ...)
It’s like the Zhaos father and son both ended up believing that emotional vulnerability is dangerous and off the table
Oh, ouch, and also, yeah, excellent point. /o\
some cookies that would probably not sell well anywhere English is spoken
LOL!
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Date: 2021-11-10 02:06 am (UTC)Perfect phrasing! You're so right that it's fascinating. (If things in China would get BETTER so it wasn't such a damn fraught/dangerous subject, I'd love it if somebody would do a real study of these things, including both the linguistic aspects and the larger queer/gender/etc etc issues, but just general linguistic ambiguity is fun to think about too.)
Yeah, this - he does care, he just expresses it in the worst possible way. (See that awful conversation where he tries to make ZYL throw CSZ under the bus ...)
Oh yes, absolutely. (Relatedly, I can't remember if ZXC would have known from the start that CSZ was Dixingren, but if so, he must have been absolutely grinding his teeth--it's not enough to have a Dixingren stuck in my head, now they're letting one into my SID...). He's such a good illustration of a really smart, capable person making the wrong choices at every turn.
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Date: 2021-11-10 09:32 pm (UTC)(I read somewhere that some people are reintroducing spoken-word gender ambiguity into written text by literally writing pinyin "ta" instead of 他/她. AMAZING.)
And that is an excellent question about Lao-Chu! I guess I never questioned that the Department of Supervision and the Xingdu Bureau knew Chu Shuzhi had been sent by the Envoy - and then never thought about how Zhao Xinci would react to that, other than thinking ZYL was fucking things up by allowing it.
He's such a good illustration of a really smart, capable person making the wrong choices at every turn.
So, so true!
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Date: 2021-11-11 08:23 am (UTC)NEAT! And that would cover 它 as well. As you say, amazing.
I never questioned that the Department of Supervision and the Xingdu Bureau knew Chu Shuzhi had been sent by the Envoy - and then never thought about how Zhao Xinci would react to that, other than thinking ZYL was fucking things up by allowing it.
Yeah, that sounds extremely probable in both timeline and reaction... . (Do I need more Zhao Xinci fics nagging me to be written? I do not. Notwithstanding, now I have one in my head where a) Shen Xi survives and they have to save the world together while also rescuing their relationship, and b) Chu Shuzhi comes to the SID while ZXC is still there and they work through their antagonism to become the world's grumpiest buddy cops. I may be a little too optimistic about these things.)
(sorry, I didn't mean to ramble at you)
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Date: 2021-11-11 08:46 pm (UTC)AHHHH, now that sounds like an excellent premise that you absolutely DO need nagging at you! *g* Seriously, I would totally be here for both, but b) in particular, because Zhao Xinci really desperately needs someone who challenges his beliefs, who can't be shoved aside and who won't be conciliatory. Lao-Chu FTW!
(Please ramble at me at any time! :D)
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Date: 2021-11-13 01:10 am (UTC)Yes! The initial fireworks would be EPIC (I'm also now picturing poor Changcheng wringing his hands on the sidelines, except the timeline doesn't work), but it would be so much fun. (If you ever feel like it, feel free to write this any time yourself as well!)
<3 <3 <3
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Date: 2021-11-09 07:20 pm (UTC)I don't know if that crossover exists, but all canons should have a character whose point is to look good in a beautiful bathrobe.
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Date: 2021-11-10 01:58 am (UTC)all canons should have a character whose point is to look good in a beautiful bathrobe.
No argument!
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Date: 2021-11-09 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-10 01:59 am (UTC)It would! I already have a list of fic and original stuff to be written a yard long, and I imagine you do too, but I hope somebody will do this!
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Date: 2021-11-11 11:27 am (UTC)It’s like the Zhaos father and son both ended up believing that emotional vulnerability is dangerous and off the table, but expressing it in two totally different ways--neither of them talk to anyone about being emotionally upset or physically unwell, for all their interaction styles are so different.
That's such a good insight about both of them. ZYL learned to mask from his dad, only his mask is loud and ebullient instead of restrained...
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Date: 2021-11-13 01:11 am (UTC)ZYL learned to mask from his dad, only his mask is loud and ebullient instead of restrained...
Yes! And I wonder how much of it was consciously done on his part—whether he senses that he’s doing the same thing his dad is, whether he deliberately chose as different an affect as possible? (Zhao Xinci almost certainly doesn’t realize that his son is doing the same thing he is. Or does he?)
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Date: 2021-11-14 02:58 pm (UTC)I turned back to my work computer and the exact right phrase came to mind instantly.
Hee, I love how that works. I do that in editing *a lot*. When I first read the original Chinese, it's all gibberish, and the next day, the appropriate English idioms just topple out of my brain. \o/
“朱一龙很帅啊,” yes indeed.
:)))
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Date: 2021-11-15 01:17 am (UTC)Thank you! To be honest the one in the middle row was taken by my husband, not me ;)
When I first read the original Chinese, it's all gibberish, and the next day, the appropriate English idioms just topple out of my brain.
There must be some weird subconscious working away that does this for us.
“朱一龙很帅啊,” yes indeed.
:)))
hee hee, I don't think I have converted her to actual 小龙包ism but at least she does have a sense of what I talk about so often in our Chinese lessons, lol.
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Date: 2021-11-15 06:21 pm (UTC)“朱一龙很帅啊," yes indeed
Yes indeed indeed! Though mostly I'm just pleased that I can at least understand some short sentences now without looking up at least one character.
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Date: 2021-11-16 12:59 am (UTC)Yes indeed indeed! Though mostly I'm just pleased that I can at least understand some short sentences now without looking up at least one character.
yes! (I feel like someone is really missing an opportunity, not creating a little textbook along the lines of "Learn Chinese with Zhu Yilong." I swear it would sell, not to mention be highly effective.)
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Date: 2021-11-16 01:46 am (UTC)I feel like someone is really missing an opportunity, not creating a little textbook along the lines of "Learn Chinese with Zhu Yilong." I swear it would sell, not to mention be highly effective.
It so would be! I'd go for it, not that that's a surprise. In fact, if my Chinese were good enough I'd make it myself, but alas it is not XD
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Date: 2021-11-16 09:50 pm (UTC)Ha, join the club ;) tinny and I made a Guardian-derived vocabulary list a while back, but it's not really the same. (The best textbook would require a lot of copyright permissions so it could use video and audio clips in plenty, of course. I was very proud of myself talking with Yu-jie yesterday when I managed to say 我都懂, I understand totally, which of course I learned because Lin Nansheng says it to Zhu Yizhen...).
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Date: 2021-11-17 12:15 am (UTC)I got that one too! The educational value of cdrama ;)
The best textbook would require a lot of copyright permissions so it could use video and audio clips in plenty, of course.
... That doesn't make me want it any less, you realise. Especially if it had a section on Wuhan dialect vs Beijing dialect...
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Date: 2021-11-18 07:12 am (UTC)THIS. Such an untapped resource, oh dear.
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Date: 2021-11-18 04:01 pm (UTC)This one looks like it could be promising - https://books.google.ca/books/about/Chinese_Language_s.html?id=lCgnrA7Ke3QC&redir_esc=y
Turns out it's in the uni library I have access to, so I might give that a go.
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Date: 2021-11-19 01:21 am (UTC)Here is a short article by my idol Chao Yuen Ren about his experience of dialects among other things--it (deliberately) isn't very academic but it's a lovely read.
https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/rct/pdf/e_outputs/b01/v01p015.pdf
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Date: 2021-11-19 02:18 am (UTC)