#(listened to audio so may have missed some details tho)

[aroaessidhe]

2022 reads // twitter thread    

Belly Up

funny YA contemporary about a girl who accidentally gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby, with help from with her single mother and grandmother

bi MC, aspec side characters

[rqs902]

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IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS 

ITS MY BOY ENYU!!!! ON THE FRONT PAGE???? okay also a big deal for zhaohao and li hao too!!!

ok now into part 2 of the ep

interesting that they focused on junhao for everybody. can understand he probably has the most different and struggle experience so probably more interesting for dramas sake lol im surprised they dont spend more time on shengen, considering his popularity. 

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA JUNHAO FREAKING OUT over the fact that they only learned the dance for 40 mins. LOL thats the level of tyger + kou cong + shengen, i can imagine the struggle of the yang guang nan hai group in comparison AHAHA i just imagine him running down the hall freaking out like HOW DID THEY LEARN THE DANCE IN JUST ONE CLASS WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE 

lollll “theyre all dachang boys” “theyre all zhang yixing’s students” HAHAHAH you know even though he is slightly struggling compared to the rest, he aint bad and theyre all taking it light hearted with laughter so seems like a good learning environment! and he’s confident he’ll get it LOL thats good! i think thats what makes him so amusing 

HAHAHA i love how lin mo just keeps giggling at junhao like he genuinely just finds him so amusing LOL yay for making new friends 

awww bc junhao’s always been a leader i feel like for him to finally feel like hes being taken care of is so nice. i have absolute confidence that this group will treat him kindly. AW HE CALLED HIM MOMO 

im still disappointed they have YET to show zhan yu’s funny/strange personality and this wouldve been a great opportunity bc hes surrounded by friends he’s comfortable with!! like his friendship with kou cong! or akey and lin mo! but sigh...

THEY PUT ZHAN YU IN THE FRONT FOR THE SEXUAL LINE HAHAHHA PERFECT BUT I SEE LIN MO BEING ONE OF THE ONLY ONES NOT SHOWING HIS ABS HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA

wow the lyrics are so fitting for lin mo to scream LOL but also ay his vocals?! aw im glad they put in a little rap for shengen and akey! honestly was kinda hoping for more bc they havent had a proper stage together before and i feel like itd be awesome but also junhao and zhan yu vocalization at the end was on point!!

lol all the kids being like zhang pd’s words are so detailed and professional... sigh theyve been missing out until now 

im glad they really pointed out how each member of this team did well! they really all did a great job with each of their parts, and they each got a little part to shine, and when put together, it was a complete performance. im proud of them and happy for them!

aw.... i feel like we’ve been waiting so long to hear lin mo get complimented.... i feel like it’s been since qcyn namanana that we’ve been waiting for him to redeem himself and climb back up to the peak. ugh its been nearly a year and a half. im just so terrified of whats gonna happen next bc im way too skeptical at this point to expect this high to continue, esp with what happened after namanana last time......... but for now, im happy. relieved hes finally getting the recognition he deserves and im happy that hes happy. lol i was also half scared we were gonna get spirit of the knight-ed again with his pink hair (nightmare flashbacks to lin mo and changxi’s deletion from that perf) i dont think ill ever get over that :( i feel like as a lin mo stan, ive been trained to not keep my hopes up and to prepare for the worst bc hes the type of person who just always gets the short end of the stick, it feels like. 

aw the part when they go back to the waiting room and jin fan is waiting for them with an encouraging smile and the whole exchange of "帥的真的帥的" "哇~可以吧" "我沒想到" "那必須的" our leader did them proud :’) 

ugh the part where luo jie calls them and tells them he can’t come back........ heart breaking. i can see why lin ran and xikan would be really affected. lin ran has been luo jie’s go-to since he left and knowing how their usual friendship involves making fun of one another and jokingly complaining about each other, it hits hard when lin ran says he cried his eyes out. it hurts that they didnt get to share the stage again before he left. xikan may not have shared the stage with luo jie during ip, but hes known him since then and has been with him through both rounds here. it interesting bc i feel like the namanana perf was very light hearted on qcyn but i cant see that happening here, esp with their outfits? 

aw shiwei and chaowen taking charge to raise their spirits :’) 

lin ran’s voice fits so well with this song wow! i really like his lines! also lol i didnt know xikan would have abs but okay and tbh im always hesitant about dances with props bc it always is so easy to look messy..... like every slight difference in angle in the way you hold your arms is immediately magnified 

and like sxl’s fan is obviously broken and having performed fan dances myself i know that that’s like the most annoying thing to happen on stage, and can be really difficult to deal with, even tho it happens ALL THE TIME with those types of fans ugh :( 

i mean its super kind of them to leave luo jie’s space empty for him, but its kinda weird to have parts of the audio missing sadly :( and also chaowen’s voice did something weird in the middle there, like its sounds weirdly weak 

wait didnt yixing tell them to close the fan? but they didnt? 

xikan’s facial expressions are perfecttt, good for him! wish they gave more screen time to shiwei during shiwei’s lines lol... but also i cant help but hear lin mo’s voice during that part LOL ugh speaking of which i miss that team dynamic namanana team a on qcyn HAHAHAH hwx being a brat and fjj running around wild and lin mo giving up on them all just laughing like idiots for hours on end while bo yuan just judges them from a corner LOL i love the beginning of the wenxuan and lin mo friendship good times :’)  

HAHAH ENYU AGAIN WITH THE REALEST COMMENTS - i agree AHHAHAH i love these kids too but there was something off about this stage 

im surprised but also not surprised by what the judges are saying 

o didnt realize sxl was supposed to be center but i guess that explains the big puffy thing on his shoulder lol.......... agree with cx tho, even without his broken fan, i think the fans made them look worse bc it just looked messy 

well idk if we’re getting all the stages today but at least jin fan’s is also getting aired! TYGER HUG FOR JIN FAN YESS

jin fan teaching them dance? yes thank you for showing us he is a good dancer. oof jin fan’s just too nice :( hes trying to avoid conflict too much that it caused conflict smh......... lol oscar trying to talk to su er hes having such struggle i feel that bro LOL hes doing really well though, tbh being relatively young, hes really trying his best and is being reasonable. 

LOL HE CALLED HIM JIN FAN GE i forgot jin fan is considered old lol..... jin fan really taking the higher road here and im glad they sat together and talked it out a bit

THE JIN FAN VOICE YESSSS hahahhaha kou cong holding the tyger sign!!

oo is that some of his bel canto-style singing coming through LOL 

AY NICE for hong weihao and oscar to put in some rap 

some of those high notes were a bit questionable at the end but okay jin fan is really claiming that vocal + dance teacher role i see.... interesting 

but agree with yixing that he doesnt need to force himself to do high notes bc his voice is so nice regardless!! yay for oscar getting recognition! im still waiting for jin fan to do a cool dance performance sigh

wasnt expecting an enyu feature BUT ILL TAKE IT 

oof huang enyu saying hes really trying to put himself out there by going for leader and the realest comment that he hasnt considered getting to debut he just wants to pass this round oof and he feels like his opportunities may be cut short bc hes getting old oof

enyu and chenxu crying watching the movie 

AW THEIR HAHA VIDEOS ARE THE CUTEST THING I LOVE THESE KIDSSS so sad that so many of them are at risk of elimination :(  im glad these vocals made their own friend group! I hope itll be a memory they carry forward. they do all have shared experiences as vocals on this show. 

this reaction to junrong’s voice

same tho :’) but actually all of their voices are so so nice like actually these 5 are all people whose voices ive really listened for on this show, but wow renyu’s voice in particular like really ugh just sounds so pure 

also enyu looks really nice in this performance but thats a side note okay moving on

i mean literally these reactions

and li hao crying while singing and so many kids in the waiting room crying while watching OOF this perf has got me emotional 

HAHAHHAHA THEIR INTROS HAHAHHA

UGH ENYU his plea just.... the way he yelled it bc it mustve taken courage and it mustve been a frustration on his mind for a while now and bc maybe he wouldve broken down if he hadnt yelled it out but im really crying now.... and its so out of character for him that you know he really really is feeling desperate and feels the need to speak out

lol wait gjm posted on weibo about him? is that why hes getting more attention lol..........

i really hope the vocals win :( 

no tygers in the next ep preview? hmmMMMMMmm okay 

well also interesting that they put the other 4 perfs with the elims...... seems sketch but at least most of my kids got to go this week ahhhhhh i feel bad for the other groups already. esp the ones with the kids who arent as popular... 

[aspiestvmusings]

First Thoughts w. Minor Endgame SPOILERS

I am basically done with my spoilery Avengers: Endgame posts, but... I’ve decided to delay posting them, because as hard as I tried...it’s impossible for me to write any reviews or comments or reactions without spoiling...a bit too much. And though I know people have shared much more details than I have...much sooner... I don’t want to. Really. Or I want to... but I can’t...

So, for now, I’ll start small. With very vague spoilery post and commenting only on few things, without context. Despite being as vague as possible, this will have spoilers, so..

CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST SPOILER WARNING!

THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME UNDER CUT, SO IF THE SITE DIDN’T FILTER OUT & HIDE THIS PROPERLY TAGGED (SPOILER) POST, THEN THIS IS THE TIME TO STOP & NOT READ ANY FURTHER

First: in all the screenings I've been to the audience has laughed, and gasped, and cried, and applauded. The laughter bursts vary a bit, the level of (loud) crying depends, but one thing is constant. Iron Man’s last scene brings near total silence, because unlike in IM3 everyone knows that this is actually the last film including Iron Man as we know him. And one thing has  been constant - people applaud when during the end credits it’s RDJs name/image on screen. RDJ gets a “standing ovation”.  Amazing acting by so many actors in this film...but for me RDJ’s trumps all. 

Second: As a parallel to the last IM film, the last Avengers (as they were) film ends with a voiceover/narration from Tony. But unlike with the Iron Man films, where even those who were unaware of the end credits scene & Avengers, and that IM will return, this time the audience knows that he won’t return. That voiceover is final goodbye....the wording is so final... so the audience knows there will be no “IM returns”... he is really saying goodbye to the character. And people listen to it...mostly...in silence. Like mourning. A whole minute (or whatever) silence in honour of RDJ as Tony/IM. 

Third: Several characters say the word SHIT in this movie. The word is repeated several time...in different scenes. And yet...no-one says “language!” One scene particular is the sweetest and the funniest. You’ll know when you hear it...repeated. 

Fourth: This is important to know for those, who are in a hurry - there really is NO END CREDITS SCENE. No mid-credit, no end-credit. The voice-over from RDJ/Tony... as a goodbye message to IM and the final character title cards for the original six are it. Then it’s just credits rolling. 

Though there is one thing at the very end. There’s no picture, but there is audio at the very end of the credits. If you listen very carefully you’ll hear some clanging... FIVE TIMES (I counted five, but maybe I missed a few?) Whether that sound is from the past - Tony making the 1st suit in 2008, or present or future (someone making a new hammer/weapon or a new IM/superhero suit)... is yet unknown. But I’d like to think it’s in memory of Tony’s start as IM. 

That’s the end of Tony’s Iron Man, and though unlike with successors to other characters roles/thrones that were properly introduced, there was no introduction of the next IM/Tonys replacement, there were a few hints where it might go. Pay attention to one of the child characters during the “middle” of the film (plus the newest member or the iron suit wearing team) & then to a young man/teen boy at the back in the "final" scene.

Fifth: it’s been 21...no...22 days since....the events of A3:IW  That is one day for every MCU film so far. That’s just one of the many many callbacks & references to the past MCU films. 

Sixth:  Several next generation superheroes are kinda introduced. Future “replacements” for Captain America & Hawkeye & even Iron Man are kinda shown or hinted at. The new CA is officially introduced. CM as the new leader is kinda introduced. Hawkeyes successor is hinted at. But so is...though much more subtly... Iron Man’s... 

Seventh: There are so so so many callbacks & references to past MCU films. Some lines are quoted exactly. Some things are referenced more subtly. I’ve only seen half of the films, so I only caught half of the references probably. And most likely missed many even tho the films I have seen. 

Eight: The mid/end credits scene from Captain Marvel (”Where’s Fury?”)  is not in the film. But... the film works best if you consider it was cut (not that it was a misleading clip). If you imagine it being between the Hawkeye family scene & the Tony’s helmet message to Pepper recording scene...everything fits better.... cause without that moment between those scenes it seems like something is missing from the timeline.   (I’ll explain in my future spoiler post)

Nine: Natasha & Clint fighting over who gets to be the one to go on the mission - who is more “worthy”...And in general all the talk about who gets to do what mission/work - everyone wanting to volunteer (or..almost...everyone). They really are the Avengers (not the pre-vengers). #everyoneintheteamisallaboutthesuperherolife 

Ten: Every character gets their moments to shine - scenes for their character, and each get closure (kinda... even those who we know will be part of the future MCU films). And every hero/character got their moment to shine also during the big battle. It was a TEAM event. And every one of the main six got their final/goodbye scene. Plus all the Original Six get their own “title card” during the end credits.

Eleven: Lots of SNAPPING in this film. Characters snapping at each other (angry speeches), but also the actual snapping (of the gauntlet...as seen in IW)

Twelve: This movie is a lot about THE SMARTS. This is about the BRAINS more than the BRAWN. Come up with clever plan, outsmart the others. There is a lot of that going on in this film. Though,its also a lot about putting the two together: BRAINS + BRAWN - getting the best of both.... 

Thirteen: a rodent that looks a lot like a rat (or maybe it is a mouse... since Disney is all about Mickey Mouse)...plays a pretty important part in the film.

Fourteen: Stan Lee makes a cameo. IMO this was not as great as many of his others. Also... for whatever reason they decided to use the CM (VFX) strategy for his scene. It’s a little fun moment, but I’d say his cameo in CM works better as his “last cameo ever”

Fifteen: There is a montage in the (early in the film) beginning of the film which is almost exactly like a montage/scene in SHREK. In this film it’s the purple bad guy starring in the scene, in SHREK it was the green good guy. OR...maybe I remember incorrectly, and the scenes aren’t really that similar.... I have to re-watch Shrek films

Sixteen: You’ll hear the best/worst bedtime story ...ever... (???) being told in this film. 

Seventeen: There will be SALAD & DESSERT. And references to both will make you cry. You will probably cry just before/during/after the scenes that mention salad & dessert... #eatasalad #juicepops 

Eighteen: Pay attention to the fancy lady & the man with the flowers. Their scenes are some of the most important. 

Nineteen: The funny & more relaxed scenes & the serious/sad/fight scenes alternate. After a sad moment you get a laugh moment, then sad again, then laughs again. 

Twenty: Food plays an important part in the film. There’s no Shawarma (I guess  the Shawarma place owner/workers got dusted?), but Thor’s bread from the trailers is not the only food we see/hear  mentioned: (peanut butter) sandwich, tacos, cheeseburgers, salad, dessert, juice pops, table full of plates with food, cheese wiz.... and Tony’s snacks all make an appearance in the film. Only question remains: who will do the dishes? You’ll see in the film who. 

Twenty-One: In some ways Tony’s & Nebula’s stories (arcs, endings) in this film are similar. Nebula’s past & Tony’s past are kinda haunting them, and they both are able to conquer it. Both were “bad” (Tony a weapons maker in his father’s footsteps, Nebula a mercenary cyborg under her father's control) and became “good”.  On top of that both have daddy issues (most of the characters have mommy/daddy issues...) They both make choices that complete their respective arcs. In many ways their big final moments are similar... even if you wouldn’t think so right away. 

Twenty-Two: Since his name has been in cast list on IMDB for while, it has been no spoiler that he is this movie, but yes, the (kid) actor who plays Harley Keener in IM3 is also in this film. He is in just one scene. So if you notice an unfimiliarface in a scene (the camera clearly shows him, too, at one point...) & ask yourself “who is that kid”, then THAT’S him. Because they don’t include a flashback from IM3 for him... the actor (and the character) have aged.The kid is now a teen/young adult, so many people don’t recognize him. And apparently many don’t like IM3, or haven’t seen it. 

EXTRA: This film, especially if we look at it as a two-parter (asone part of Infinity Saga: A3 + A4) is ...kinda.... a story about fathers & daughters. In A3 we saw a lot of Thanos/daughters stuff, in A4 we pretty much both open & end the film with father/daughter moments (it may not be the very last frame of the film, but it’s close to end). I can’t spoil those, but you’ve seen one of the films father/daughter moments in the trailers (Hawkeye/daughter - he has sons, too, but the focus is on the daughter). And in general, the film is about family  (the avengers superheroes family)

 And I’ll end this post with a new banner/header I made... in honour of the strongest & most kind-hearted superhero...

RDJ as Tony Stark as Iron Man, fans love you 3,000!

[ghosty-schnibibit]

tumblr may be crumbling to the ground around us but i'll still be here, livebloging taz into eternity  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

for real tho, i’m extremely hyped to finally see the end of this arc and tumblr self destructing won’t keep me from that. also i started doing my fourth (fifth? i’ve lost count at this point) balance relisten and i’m about half way through MotRL r/n and i can’t wait to experience the massive tonal shift in those two arcs lmao

i am... extraordinarily worried about literally every character based on this previously on. i'm especially worried about "duck says goodbye" in the description, like... i quit watching cr2 because molly died, don't test me griffin, don't you kill my favorite boy

pfff love these boys so

well that resolved itself incredibly quickly :|

aww, that's precious 0u0

oh right, kirby still exists

... oh no, that's bad

i've never seen butterfly effect :/

ned you dipshit ilu

business goats

hey ned maybe don't equivocate sylvans with literal monsters?????

oooooh that sounds bad

jake :D

DOES STERN JUST FUCKING LIVE THERE NOW?

oooooh no, that's bad, that is extremely bad

duck is my favorite boy 0u0

what was that noise clint

aubrey what did you do in high school 

UMM??? NED WHAT THE SHIT?????

... didn't he just get a singular nail though? not a bunch of nails? i need to go back and listen to the last ep again, i must have missed that

god this music is so choice 

oh it probably will griffin, it probably will

oh eww :(

INDRED NO!!! NOT MY BOY!!!!! D:

oh shit, that sounds terrible

ned you fuckin coward

ooooh bad noise

BAD LUCK

nice! good plan!

flashback time :D

drugs and hockey roundhouse

OH SNAP

ewww :(((

"you're bad kids, you're peeing on the floor like dogs" jesus griffin

IT'S THE COPS

minerva what the fuck

BEACON! :D

wait... so who the fuck was that???

]B E E F  B O Y

WHY????? oh okay then

a crab-walking goat man is the best mental image ever

beacon is such a grouchy boy

what's minerva gonna say when she sees beacon busted???

oh jesus christ D:

nice, good roll :D

oh hell, that's fucked

duck is a very good boy

thb were kind of murder hobos lmao

poor duck has had his fill of head trama these last two arcs, hot damn

OH NO, THAT'S VERY BAD

ooooh no, there's griffin's ominous dm voice

"we haven't established what the timeline is" we're used to it griffin "it's been a few months" mcelroy jk griffy ilu

i would go to the pre-ned cryptonomica tbh

kirby origin story :D

... that's such a mundane but relatable detail, damn

aww, he calls her vicki :)

"i am not a man of faith" jesus, i know justin's playing duck as the anti-taako on purpose but ned is turning into the anti-merle

aww vicki :(

god this is deep as hell

ned stop putting your foot in your mouth i swear to christ

i'm gonna fucking cry :'(

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? IS THE JET PACK THE FUCKING FORD ANGLIA?????

ned no

well that sounds sick af

the tree has no ass

SOMEONE HELP HER PLEASE

what was that noise

they've used help out multiple times griffin, is this going to be this season's version of "i think this is our first ever death saving throw"???

all i can picture is mannequin magnus

aww, baby aubrey :D

"i don't wanna characterize the dad like that" the dad is gonna show up at some point isn’t he

OH BABY

"do you need help? and don't cuss" that's so sweet 

wait what?????

HER NAME IS ALEXANDRA

is this because she touched the crystal??? or does this have to do with how she could hear alexandra's thoughts before????? also what in the world does the title "audience to divinity" mean??????????

oh eww :(((

"it has manifested an ass"

that was a cool ass accidental foley

aww, lil baby seed

IT'S THE GLOWIES AGAIN

what does this mean griffin i need to know

multiple candlenights shows! yay! :D

GRIFFIN YOU CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD WITH THE HAPPY LODGE MUSIC, THIS IS BAD

“we’ll keep the light on for you” we will be your tom bodett

god that's so cute, otp

... griffin really has forgot about aubrey's eye hasn't he

this is so good

at least travis hasn't forgotten lmao

well that's creepy :|

OH JESUS

THE SKIPPING IS SO CREEPY OH MY GOD

THIS IS FUCKING TERRIFYING

YOU CAN'T JUST END THE SCENE THERE GRIFFIN HOLY SHIT

okay i've relistened to the creepy voice section about five times and i swear to god something is being said backwards during the part where whatever it is says "aims to bring the planet back into balance," i don't know how to isolate that audio but damn if i'm not going to try

... so a bit of a raven and ram deal

i'm liking ned more and more as he develops, i think right now he’s still my least fave of the trio (which doesn’t say much because i love them all) but he’s warming on me

oh no, this isn't good

aww billy :)

THE PENDANT

HOLY SHIT NO

and griffin’s penchant for distressing notes appears once more

aww, minerva sounds so sad :(

oh minerva baby :(((

wait... hivemind??? like the thing that is possessing thacker?????

wait what???

MINERVA NO, OH MY GOD

I'M GOING TO FUCKING CRY

WHO IS SHE TALKING TO THEN

WAIT WHAT????? LEO????? IT'S FUCKING LEO??????????

in conclusion, hot damn that was one hell of an arc finale!!! i’m super glad we’re getting the next ep next week because i need some answers, and also i have so many questions. i’m starting to piece together bits and pieces of theory but i can’t wait to see what other theorists in the fandom have to say.

see you all next week!!!!! here’s hoping tumblr lasts that long lmao

[rigelmejo]

Ok truly tho I cannot believe I didn’t try this sooner.

And/or maybe I just picked up more vocabulary from reading 天涯客 than I thought I did. I did so much intensive reading the past few months, it’s not like I challenged myself with any extensive reading to see my progress.

I just read chapter 1 of guardian. It took maybe 20 minutes, but that’s pretty good for near full comprehension! I could follow all of the details, understand nearly all words (meaning wise), and it was great! I did not need or feel the need to look anything up to figure it out. I can definitely see how reading 天涯客 might’ve taught me a lot of priests favorite sentence structure words (how priest compares things, describes talking, describes movement, describes characters, sets up sentences to describe setting), and often used adjectives.

Reading the translation before the Chinese helps so freaking much in comprehension I wish I had tried this sooner! It is such a different experience than extensive reading with nothing done beforehand!

Also note to myself, I took an hour break in between reading in English and Chinese, so it’s not like you have to read right away together.

Also notes on listening-reading, since I also did all of chapter 1 this way. I did the steps in order: English read, Chinese audio Chinese follow along, Chinese audio English for reference. Then I read the chapter in chinese after to see if I could.

Things I noticed:

1. Step 3, listening to Chinese while using the English text for reference, IS definitely the step I feel the most benefit. Specifically, when I really ONLY glance at the English to help figure out a word/phrase. It’s hard to describe but when I was following along to the English all the way, I was hearing words I knew in Chinese and trying to match them up and not really hearing most of the unknown words. However, it was actually easier when I looked away from the English/closed my eyes for short moments, focused on the audio first, and tried to catch what I heard. And only looking at the English to double check I was in the right spot, or match an audio word I didn’t know to it’s overall phrase/word in the English text. It’s hard to describe but basically... focusing primarily on the Chinese listening during this step/trying to follow IT seems to work better (compared to trying to match the audio to the words I’m seeing). Anyway yeah, in actual listening reading, this IS the step I noticed the most new words/phrases and potential to learn them.

2. Step 2, Chinese audio to Chinese text, at least at this Beginner point, was not very helpful for picking up new words. It really seemed most suited to just keeping up with reading along to text/hearing individual words. I’m hoping, as I do more l-r, I can use this to pick up some new Hanzi and recognize their pronunciation. I realized today my print guardian novel does NOT match up to the webnovel version Avenuex used to make the audiobook recordings (lines were missing in my print novel, some paragraphs were ordered differently, and notably priest changed the end of chapter 1 in the print novel to have guo changcheng see Zhu Hong and her snake tail instead of seeing a ghost with no feet, so I just totally lost the ability to follow along to the audio then). This wasn’t a problem in step 3 Chinese audio/English text, because the English translation went off the webnovel version. This may be less of a problem if I switch to the webnovel link to read the Chinese version. But... at the same time, I enjoy seeing the differences since I do own the print novel and WANT to read it. Regardless though, the step 2 part goes so fast I do genuinely think the suggestion it is best for “getting used TO listening/following along” rather than learning new words is probably applicable to my experience doing it. I DO think, to learn more new words With this step 2, it’s more useful to do it AFTER reading the chapter Slowly in chinese (so you can scan the text more as you listen to the audio - so it has more of the step 3 Chinese audio/English text transcript reference benefit).

3. My print novel has some noticeable differences from the webnovel version, as I mentioned above. For the most part it’s only small changes like different transition words, or reordered sentences in paragraphs. But the whole end of chapter 1 was changed to a different event. And I get why, the drama ended up doing the print novel scene moreso, and the print novel version of the scene makes it introduce SID/Zhu Hong/Guo Changcheng’s fear - whereas the original “he has no feet” webnovel version didn’t introduce Zhu Hong. Anyway I mention this though because, while doing step 2 it confused me and made the step frustrating to even attempt... when I actually just read the chapter in chinese... it was very cool I could follow the new parts just fine. I could read and comprehend enough to read the new scenes, even though I had no audio to give me prior context, and no English translation to tell me what was happening beforehand. So that’s pretty cool to me! Particularly, that I could follow all the details and words of the new scenes! Since finer details are much harder for me to handle when extensive reading! I just thought that was pretty cool, and pretty good progress!

[thechitchatbar]

Sensory processing disorder- reposted

was posted on old disqus moving here adding part to bottom

all the aspects of how it effects me

I cant do rough fabrics such as cotton can only do dresses or skirts can only sleep in dresses

male voices bother me so cant do audio books read by a male and very limited on music sang by a male (there are some exception) this part has perception involved so its not just the direct sound of the voice but the perception as well

I cant handle ppl singing in public near me in any form (im picky about the music I like but the music I do listen to is all professional with auto tuner anyone singing those no matter how good they are or how good there voice is triggers my spd makes it hard going to birthday parties and such also random singing on shows or commercials trigger it I couldn't even be in ear shot if a musical was playing omg that is terrible whenever theres singing on certain shows ill fast forward threw it tho certain background music is ok as long as its not the charecters and is professional meaning a real song (there are some exceptions to this very very few but some if only I can think of the movie where that girl who had no fear until she released some monsters on Halloween idk it was a Halloween movie now I cant sleep til I figure out the name of it next week learn how ocd effects me as I still try to figure the name of that movie out  btw to put yourself in my shoes whenever someone sings listen to a nail on a chalk board for equal the time

guys touching me bothers me(my spd may have more negative relations to guys for various reasons or just cause spd is an asshole idk mayby its cause im trans mayby its cause im attracted to girls mayby its maybeline idk) girls are fine unless unexpexted

to much going on quickly over whelms me and can create sensery overload really fast to many ppl really loud just to much going on

this next 1 may not be spd idk but I cant do conformity of any kind such as speaking as a group like some weddings do where they have everyone readingor group prayers even tho im a Christian (hope saying that doesn't break the no religion rule im only stating it not trying to start a convo about it)

light bothers me

things a req are a darker area in general for sleep I need silk/satin sheets my sensery lamp my music (ironic considering how easy music can trigger my spd) a cool environment or fans cool environment is better a silky feel dress and my silk/satin pillow case tho I feel some gentle movement might help which is why im planning to build a swing bed and surround it so its encased to hopfully help better

anyways ask questions if need be sure I missed something

[equalseleventhirds]

Thanks for your thoughts on mouth sounds in podcasts! It’s genuinely disorienting to realize that sounds like eating/drinking are fairly neutral for a lot of people, like when I learned that celery isn’t actually supposed to make your mouth numb and cottony, and actually I am mildly allergic to celery.

Wrt accommodating misophonia in podcasts, I have a few things that may or may not be obvious, I’m not sure.

- warnings have to specify the exact sounds in question instead of just “misophonia” or a blanket statement, because there’s so much variation in trigger sounds and severity

- if you include timestamps I owe you my life. I’ve never found a way to minimize my reaction by bracing myself or knowing to expect the trigger sounds at some point, avoidance is it, especially because my reactions get stronger with exposure (the first audible swallow might irritate me, the third in a scene is a panic attack)

- personally, I do a lot better when there’s some sort of cue/signal before eating or drinking, like a drink being poured, or snack wrapper crinkles, or dialogue mentioning food. This usually gives me time to pause it or take off my headphones if I need to.

- characters talking with their mouths full is a bad time because I have to consciously focus on those noises to catch what they’re saying, I can’t even try to distract myself. It also makes it really hard to take the sounds out myself with a quick edit, which I’ve done on occasion (fun fact, I learned to pick out the waveform of the swallowing sound... and then I had to stop for a few days because just seeing the waveform started to set off a response, which was novel and bad).

- the volume doesn’t seem to be much of a factor for me, but how realistic it is can be everything. Obviously fake or stylized mouth sounds aren’t something I like to listen to, but they’re usually tolerable unless I’m really overstimulated or something.

- I fear and respect vocal editors, and I can’t think about their job for too long or I get the same feeling as when I see someone pick up a spider with their bare hands.

!!! thank you so much for this! i am an aspiring audio editor & producer and i like, never considered some of this stuff, so it's extremely good to know! i am copypasting this into an ongoing document for reference i think. (and yes i can say as a vocal editor, intentional mouth sounds are one thing, but sometimes ppl make unintentional mouth sounds while acting and it is... i haven't got misophonia but going over the sounds again and again to try and minimize them? awful.)

i'm gonna ask a few follow-up questions abt how to make stuff as accessible as possible, bcos i would really like to do that! feel free to answer or not tho ur under no obligation!

when doing trigger warnings, would it be helpful to put sounds in like, a separate list from emotional/theme/etc trigger warnings? my instinct is to categorize things for Ease Of Finding and also possibly bcos like, timestamps on sounds are easier than timestamps on emotional stuff so separating them out is simpler to me, but if it's actually unhelpful in anyway i would like to know so that i do not do this.

similarly, does it help to separate warnings out for realistic and unrealistic mouth sounds? i realize that the line between what sounds realistic may be a bit blurry, bcos sometimes things that aren't even real sounds could still manage to hit the like, response for real sounds, but would this be useful or is it better to just lump them together?

also, a lot of shows put warnings in show notes for ease of access, but some podcatchers have a character limit. if warnings get long and hit that limit (like, if there's a lot of mouth sounds to specify), is it a significant barrier to instead put a link to detailed warnings? ...it's possible that if something has that many mouth sounds you may just want to skip the episode entirely, but like, assuming you did not, i guess?

also do transcripts help for when you need to skip a bit, or do you just have to power through or try and guess what you missed with context?

[wupassman]

Reviewing SweetStoryBro’s Review of the Shenmue story

https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro/status/831177322803892225

Some first ofs:

I am writing this directly adressing Sweetstorybro because it feels more natural and less impersonal to address him but that doesn’t mean it’s not intended for anybody else. I am one of the big backers (toy capsule set pledge) so I have a lot to say about this game I fought 14 years for to get that Kickstarter.

I am sorry if this may read a lil bit like a scatterbrained person wrote this. I basically take notes as I listen and since I managed to lose my write up for the first half of the podcast I had to rewrite that from memory too.

I really like the effort and research you put into this, while in places I can add something overall this is very sastisfying for a long time fan and definately a pretty goddamn complete rundown of what the story is about and how its executed. That being said generally if there’s agreement there is not a whole lot more to add so if I don’t outright disagree you can assume I agreed.

Let get to it then:

I think you did a really good job at explaining in which way Shenmue surpasses your average gaming experience, while its clearly a game it kinda goes past playing but experiencing. As you pointed out this game can be a very different experience for each player based on how hard they are looking to find connections and generally explore the world (and progress the story at just the right pace as to not miss a single cutscenes XD It’s not too easy to make a 100% run but if you do, things like Nozomi moving isn't as much out of the blue, yes she basically leaves as abrupt as he does but it's foreshadowed during the convos with her). Yu indeed built a very lifelike world with tons of lil details and NPCs that felt real. I really like how you brought up that book explaining what Yu was trying to do with this world. That was a thing I fan haven't heard of before. Indeed it is a very key aspect to differentiate between japanese and chinese, which of course becomes a much bigger deal in part II even, when Ryo is removed from his stomping grounds but in Hongkong. It's actually p interesting how a game about chinese culture was kinda a main idea from the beginning, as he was inspired to be making Shenmue (then Akira RPG/Project Berkley) many years prior, when he travelled China in order to research martial arts for Virtua Fighter.

As this is a perfect segway I’ll be skipping ahead a little bit here and talk about the fighting system.On of the main genres I always played were fighting games so I personally appreciated the super simplified VF fighting system (try VF3TB from the same time and youll know the difference) and being such a player I wouldnt even have thought of wanting to play this with analog stick. Golden rule of fighting games: dpad = accuracy, analog = wishy washy. That being said I am not at all opposed to change it up for Shenmue III and make it feel more like Sleeping Dogs. After all back in the day it was a different controller not quite as handy for 3D games (the lack of a 2nd stick means a lot). As long as the fighting is tight and responsive it works for me either way, iof there is a change that needs to happen it’s the camera. I am not really holding it against the game cuz it’s really old but the camera screw ups during fights could leave you clueless which way youre facing at times.

I wouldnt worry too much about the thing with the chapters. The games don’t equal chapters. It’s more like arcs/themes (as you later said when talking about the PostMortem). From basically the very start Shenmue was supposed to be split into 5 games and as of yet the plan/hope is that the final game will be Shenmue V. Shenmue I was only 1 chapter but Shenmue II was 3.

At the risk of completly blowing any kind of credibility I might have and just come off as a crazed fanboy: The pacing of Shenmue I had purpose. It very much corresponds with the mental state of Ryo. Feeling of grief and feeling lost. Shenmue I basically is about running into a brickwall and trying a different path until at the end he finally finds a way to get his passage to China. Until then his plans were shattered and ruined a couple of times and it weighs on him. And it should weigh on the player too. It’s part of how you manage to get this deep connection to the character because you as a player are forced to live out the day as is (or just go for the blocking out that your dad was killed and spend all day in the You Arcade). this is further emphasiszed that in Shenmue I theres rarely ever good weather and most of the soundtrack is depressing too. The days getting long is absolutely intentional. I can see how this might not be the most fun kind of gaming for a lot of people, but this is why different games exist. Shenmue’s job is not to appeal to players who can’t enjoy a game where shit doesn’t explode every 5 seconds. It is important to tell people who are interested so they know what theyre in for but its not actually a negative for the game itself because it actually perfectly fullfills what was required for this part of the story.

There is no way to talk about this without explaining how this correlates with the 4 themes Yu brought up and why Shenmue II is such a change of tone. It’s not just the fact that Hongkong is a bustling metropolis. It is very much the fact that due to the unseen part on the ferry and much more so because of all the masters and other freaks he meets in Hongkong that he opens up more. Again the change in tone of Shenmue II is also accompanied by visual and audio cues. THe soundtrack of Shenmue II is overall more upbeat, depressing themes do play in the more run down quarters but overall the game sounds cheerier. Likewise its not just that Hongkong of course is a much more colorful place than the suburban area he grew up in. It’s also basically always sunny in SHenmue II. Granted it makes a lot of sense due to the different seasons the game takes place in but of course with a highly artistic work like this, this is not a coincidence.

Let’s move right into the next part here. Yes Ryo behaves like a jerkass towards a lot of his peers. While there is a chance that the Voice Acting has some to do with it (No dissing Corey Marshall, the man is a hero!) it is still fully intended for him to be as cold and brooding as he is. You can tell by the face animation, which is p goddamn good for a game that old. Every Shenmue player made jokes about how Ryo’s happy face looks the same as his angry face. His moments where he is at least not totally miserable are rare and special. He is consumed with grief in Shenmue I. Shenmue II is about moving forward from that. HENCE DEPARTURE. not just locally but mentally. I really need to compare the interactions he had with the 2 most important females in his personal life.

The first one is obviously Nozomi: These conversations are awkward for more reasons than just them sucking at talking about their feelings (which btw isnt just them being teens but really very much them being japanese in this era too). Keep in mind both are aware of the feelings the other one has so they have a very close relationship. You’d think close enough for him to actually tell Nozomi what hes on and about to do in order to find the killer of his father. He doesn’t He’s very sparse with the information he shares which is entirely rooted in the fact that revenge is highly egoistical (heres a theme that gets such importance placed upon in Shenmue II). That doesn’t even mean hes an egoist, cuz he is not. He is just super preoccupied with his grief and aparently nobody really knows how to help him finding a better way to deal with it (given his age that makes sense too, no complaints there). As I mentioned earlier tho it depends on your play how many scenes with Nozomi you’re going to see (the Shenmue Passport cd is a good reference). Also since it wasn’t actually out of the blue that she would be going to Canada soon it is quite understandable she has a hard time telling him about her feelings too. This is not only a well known story beat but IRL youd think whether you wanna tell someone you love them when you know for a fact you’ll be moving overseas anytime soon. Especially when you consider the circumstance that if Ryo wasn’t on his revenge trip he’d assume his role as patriarch of the Hazuki Dojo.

Now lets fast forward to disc 4 of Shenmue II (THIS GEM!) and inspect the interactions Ryo has with Shenhua. These are amazing. They’re literally the best conversations Ryo has in all of the 2 games. Shenhua’s cheery and innocent, good natured personality makes it exceedingly hard for him to be the brooding jerkass anymore. A lot of that has to do with all the people he met who became his friends/mentors in Hongkong/Kowloon. He grew because of them. But Shenhua’s personality helped a great deal too. All of the sudden there are no distractions. Just the environment and her. What else would he do but chat with her? If you havent played Shenmue II I implore you to just youtube the conversations he has with Shenhua and compare with Nozomi yourself. It’s like night and day and p much the ultimate signifier for his growth throughout the progress of the game. Now this is venturing a into fan theory territory: the fan base is p much split down the middle of what kind of romantic role Nozomi is going to play in Ryo’s future. To me shes the child hood love interest that never became more due to him being preoccupied and her frankly not actually being available either. It would seem sensible to accept this as a chance missed as a part of moving on. I am positive he is going to end up with Shenhua as she resumes transforming him from this brooding dude preoccupied with revenge to a guy who truly internalises the lessons he learnt in Hongkong and adds a big helping of humanity to it. 

Not to excuse his behavior towards Ine-san and Fukuhara-san (because you rightly identify them as cold) part of that is also rooted in japanese culture. With Iwao’s death Ryo became the patriarch of the family. Ine-san may scold him but in the end it is not her place to deny him. Likewise Fukuhara-san was Iwao’s student so that kind of transferred to Ryo now. The bigger point here is that he abandons his responsibilities for them. I don’t think it’ll have actual negative impact for him in story, but there is likely going to be a moment of awakening that it is high time he returns home and takes care of the martial arts school.

I am sorry this actually took a 2nd day to finish but I got busy watching Collisions 2017. I only listened to it once but in seghments. Since I am such a huge fan of the game I wanted to be fair and not overanalyze your review and find nitpicks where there arent any.

While the individual play style is entirely up to each player it is my recommendation for everyone playing this, it to give it time. Let it breathe. Just waste your time away doing fun stuff. You’re going to miss out on a lot if you’re playing it in the way youd play most linear games where you just resume with the next goal in the main quest like crossing of a check list. You are not supposed to leave this early. During my fast plays I still never finished before christmas. At best I managed a jan 15 arrival in Hongkong just to see if I manage to arrive on my own birthday lol. But in all seriousness the time limit for this game is so goddamn long because you arent really suppoed to rush through this too fast. Leaving by the middle of January or even by the end of it makes for an overall better experience IMO (lol I just heard the 10 hours thing and I damn near lost it haha. look as I said it’s ok to play it any way you see fit, but seriously 10 hours literally means just the main quest. no goofing off. You’re missing out on stuff and an overall more majestic experience is all I am saying) To me the harbor segment was super fun cuz it was cool figuring out how you get the most out of each day, incl at least some good toy collecting and maybe training (usually didnt need that anymore at this point). By no means I am trying to tell you to like an aspect you didn’t, but to me this very much comes down to how deep you immerse yourself in the world. If you let the time go by slowly (dont run basically😉) such things as working have a deeper impact on how you experience it - then 2h lunch break still feels like 15 minutes. It was literally the opposite for me in that the harbor is when I am p much forced to move the plot forward instead of just goofing off so much. I know people who share this kinda play style feel the same way that the harbor is - to us - where it really picks up.

Before my review of this is over I’d also like to personally recommend the japanese dub over the english dub. Yeah the english dub feels weird at times but this is also intentional. A good comparision to that would be the lines in the Spartacus TV show. Just like that one was speaking latin in english the Shenmue dub was speaking japanese in english if you get my meaning. The VAs talked about this on the SEGANerds podcast during the kickstarter. Of course due to having played it so much it works for me but it’s easy to tell the difference. At the same time I can not praise the english VAs enough for being incredible heroes who promoted the Kickstarter hard, it was amazing. I love all of you guys. Thank you for your passion. Will def play Shenmue III in both japanese and english to honor all of you!

I warned ya it’s prolly a lil bit all over the place. Anyway thanks for the review. give the man a follow: https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro