#like its not really about china

[s0fter-sin]

the tiktok ban is obviously horrific and an infringement on american rights but it is so fucking funny seeing these politicians freaking out about potential chinese propaganda when tumblr had an actual russian spy ring that all the users knew about and nobody gave a shit

[wolfythewitch]

Do you think Jesus ever felt homesick. Do you think he missed his mom

[ask2ps]

I love 2p japan

CHINA: 日本さえ恋がしたいということ、考えられないことではないねぇ。(It’s not unthinkable that even Japan would want love, right?)

JAPAN: 闭嘴。(Shut up.)

[chirpsythismorning]

Yeah there’s gonna be plenty of little details in s5 confirming byler, but there’s one thing in particular that I feel like would be too hilarious to pass up on…

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

just here to say that I loveee the way you have doodled jin ling. squeaky toy golden boy. the most nephew to ever nephew. thank you for delightful comics, that's all, mwah

I simply think the Jin DNA is full of lil guy potential; like sugar ants on a peony B*)

[nyxthedragon225]

"but the CCP is stealing your information!!!" "Guys China's stealing your information!!!!! "I don't want my information to go to Chi-" your information is being stolen by everyone. You're on the internet.

[alternautxyz]

uuhhh in other new that lmk s5 trailer dropped and people are very

mixed

for context the new season is being partly animated by wildbrain i think. flying bark is still working on the show but probably due to all the other projects they've been working on like the atla movie the animation is off.

its understandable that people are upset. lmk has some of the most consistently dynamic and lively animation ive ever seen, and going from that to ok animation kinda sucks. as a culmination of a lot of what the series has been building up to people were inevitably going to be disappointed

at the same time people shouldnt harass animators. like ever. no amount of trying to petition or anything will change the s5, people are just trying to do their job and theres no probably no major changing to the finished product by now. and theres still a lot of that lmk charm in there, and we haven't even seen the whole season yet to judge it. flying bark is still working on it, and even if the animation never reaches the peak of the old seasons it still has the same writers so at least the writing has the chance to live up old standards. idk though we'll just have to wait and see

[vv-ispy]

also also I know everyone likes to talk about how good of an archon Venti is because he left mondstadt to do its own thing and hey look Zhongli's doing the same now with his retirement but I also like how the story shows it isn't without flaws, with so much freedom in the city it's all too easy to take control with power, Mondstadt's people may be free but they also don't have a god to actually uphold the ideal they stand for and how personal freedoms conflict, discrimination(eg. against Eula and her clan) is allowed because the people are free to do whatever they want, the fatui really wormed their way into mondstadt during the webtoon + nearly did with Davalin bc the people of mondstadt do whatever they want so Jean is overworked and the knights are ineffective(according to Diluc), and how mondstadt might have been the least free place for the common people during the Lawrences rule despite being the region governed by the archon of freedom

Zhongli at least first tested his people were ready before retiring, Venti kinda acended, organized a bunch of celebrations for his people, then left them to have fun with their newfound freedom only interveining when things get really bad

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

tbh i can't really ever see yao as warm towards human strangers. I don't know what the current state of hetalia fandom headcanon pool is, but while i guess you could make an argument that some nations might be more invested in interacting with their populace and having proper conversations/deep connections to some ordinary civilians (even if they're undercover/have concealed identity etc) idt yao is that type of person (at least in modern day)

he goes to buy breakfast from the little stall downstairs 2 blocks away and might hang out for a smoke at the public playground/exercise installations with some old grandpas but generally he's just living among them, nothing special about it. like he'll laugh at memes/douyins and go through the motions of human life, if he's in a mall and something stupidly unfortunate happens to the person 5 before him in line, he laughs and also takes a video if it's actually ludicrous, but overall his attachment to normal citizens is the average human's attachment to a random stranger. 0/10 would not hold the door for a person just because they supposedly make up his existence—much more focused on arriving on time or acceptably late to his meeting to spare the 5 sec it would probably take.

generally tho i feel like it's mostly a result of complicated feelings on nationhood, maybe somewhat from apathy, but also like efficiency and prioritization of his r/ships with other nations over humans that most likely will not remember him or that he will need to care about in the future. this is also partly bc of his personality too I think he's warm to ppl on whims or if that hospitality is extended to him first (cannot imagine him being mean to any old grandmother selling snacks), but otherwise he's just passing through. their existence is separate from his and it's not that deep, compared to his neighbors and others who've spent centuries to millennia interacting with, being shaped by, and shaping him

ig all this is to say that i can't really see him making any kind of ""special"" bond with some human he just met on the street as sometimes happens in fic

[spock-adoodledoo]

apothecary diaries really feels like they just scrambled a bunch of chinese court dramas into a soup and made it in japanese

[starboy-squeakers]

Again not a dungeon meshi reader/watcher but every time I hear about that laois guy I get reminded of how my system had/has a hyperfixation on dragons so intense that we got that big fancy dragonology book and we treated it like the damn dragon Bible for like years

Now, obviously, we understand that there's different interpretations on mythical creatures, and no one interpretation on a dragon is necessarily gospel, but that multiple interpretations on the classic tale of beasts of scale and fire are completely valid and to be expected!

however if you call an Eastern dragon a coatl I'm going to come to your house and slaughter your family

[vaciena]

I love these books so much but holy shit does carthak’s worldbuilding drive me crazy

[soundofez]

.

[astracora]

No wait I'm rewriting this to get my feelings out.

First of all, CN confirming that Caleb and MC were adopted, beyond being incredibly questionable and completely defeating half the fandoms arguments of 'gege is just a cultural thing' because. it's no longer just cultural, it is a legally binding contact that ties people into a family. If they weren't legally adopted that would make sense, but mixed with the LEGAL PROCESS and the term 'brother' makes it very family-lense. Is so fucking foolish, my brain hurts.

Because you can't just dissolve an adoption, its actually harder for an adoptee to cut ties with their adoptive family than it is for bios to do so. There are far more things in place for biological families to severe ties. It's also easier legally to do so. It certainly doesn't magically disappear just because someone died? That's actually ridiculous??

But also, its incredibly traumatic as a process to try to dissolve an adoption, and normally sits on the adopters shoulders to do, and pretty much always has to come before the process is finalised. You can't just go through every legal process, and then go 'actually changed my mind' and file some paperwork? There's an entire legal system in place... And even if it was easy to do. MC has LOST their family to death, and now is being told they don't HAVE family, because legally they're being shoved aside by a system that irl (while has its place), is incredibly corrupt???

In what world would a person face waking up one day, to a TEXT mind you, saying 'yo ur no longer bound as family to the only people who took care of you, godspeed, have a great day, oh ye pick up some paperwork I guess so we can really finalise how alone you are.'

You can complain about the translation all you want, but the way CN has framed adoption in general is disgusting, and the way it's being treated as a plot point actually makes my blood boil a little bit, and I think EN did the right thing in fully fucking ignoring it.

CN needs to get consultants, because adoption is already treated as either some peoples saviour complex, or some kind of subpar way to shove some kids into your family (because you have to i guess???). This entire thing is fucking ridiculous.

Also you can take this as Caleb critical if you like (it's not, it's PG-Critical if anything because I play the game and I'm not MC, and I don't think I am MC when I play), but he's also not a real fucking person, and he doesn't have to hear some of the shit people say about adoptees and live with it digging into his chest like a criticism of everything he can't control.

So maybe, just maybe, we need to stop making jokes about adoption dissolution, and give the 'they're not blood siblings so its ok' shit a rest. AND MAYBE, we need to just accept y'all can like Caleb, and still criticise things, because critical thought is actually a really good thing to practice.

[deathbydarkelves]

Anyone happen to know of any good books in the same vein as The Age of the Vikings by Anders Winroth, but about ancient/traditional Chinese history and culture? I realize that's an INCREDIBLY broad topic, the history of that area stretches way longer than that of the vikings ever did. But I'm in that "I don't know what I don't know" stage of learning about the area and its history.

I'm not looking for anything that focuses on modern/recent China, I'm looking for something that covers the mythologies, philosophies, and nitty-gritty culture details of the area's ancient history in as much depth as possible. It doesn't have to cover the ENTIRE history (I doubt a book like that even exists), even just something about one or two dynasties works. In fact that's probably better, because you can get more in-depth if you focus on one era.

And when I say "nitty-gritty culture details", I mean it. Nothing is off the table. I want to know how clothing was made and cleaned, what city sanitation looked like, how illnesses were treated, and all that stuff.

If the book(s) also happen(s) to touch on the mythology/philosophy/culture of nearby areas as well, that's just a bonus.

...also it/they would have to be in English </3

EDIT: I'll also take documentaries and, like, youtube recommendations if there are any historians online who've made videos like what I'm describing.

[zhuhongs]

just found out the lead singer of taiwans biggest death metal band is also an active parliament member since like 2015.... and is still active as a death metal singer. he's a pretty standard taiwanese center left anti communist from what i could gather. which like as a leftist i dont really agree with but i also dont know enough abt taiwanese politics to like make a full judgement. though he seems to be a standard liberal nothing remarkable, radical, or new, not overtly horrible but just bland. but that was something i definitely did Not expect. apparently he's very pro indigenous rights and self determination for indigenous people but being in a centre left mega party like the DPP does not seem like the best way to achieve that. But yea, just thought I'd share