#pleco produce

[akuzondotcom]

OM! Pet HCs part 9

Barbatos

An Oblivion Plecostomus named Percival. Much like human-world suckermouth catfish in appearance, size and behaviour, Percival merely works away at keeping his tank clean. They are almost exactly like a human pleco.

Almost.

The only difference between Oblivion and Human-world Plecos, is the acidic secretions they produce. Able to eat away through glass and rock, naturally Percival is kept in a specialised tank made to handle said acids. These acids, when collected and diluted, actually make an excellent cleaning chemical for non organic surfaces, one Barbatos makes great use of.

In fact this cleaning purpose is the major reason Barbatos got Percival in the first place. He was just lucky to have learned how much he enjoys tank maintenance. In fact, he’s even considering getting more Oblivion Plecos for his collection.

[weeklyvocajournal]

Weekly Vocajournal #45 (05/08 - 11/08)

Quite a few album crossfades coming out for Comiket and Magical Mirai, check in on your fave JP producers!

Pleco - CHÉRIE (ft. Chis-A, AiSuu)

My first experience with this producer, and they're doing all the stuff I like! Great vocals, catchy chorus and surprise electroswing bridge. Just a pleasant experience all around.

Solkatt-P - Ellen (ft. Kagamine Rin) [Witch’s House fansong]

A really nice english Rin and killer PV! I don't know anything about the game but I've been told there's spoilers here so watch out.

Shanti Remixes

There's going to be Shanti remixes album, and quite a few producers have uploaded theirs, so I'll highlight zensen's for most unexpected genre (electroswing?!) and r-906's for best alternate vocals with Miku.

GYARI - Drill Musou (ft. Kasane Teto SV)

He's back! Not gonna bother putting the whole title since it's so long. Teto goes on a classic fantasy RPG adventure to some nice GYARI-brand jazz. Love the drill focus.

HSP - Kodoh (ft. Hatsune Miku) [Extended ver.]

Between this and the Clean Tears album announcement, vocatrance enjoyers (me) are eating well.

Giga, Teddyloid - ULTRA C (ft. Kagamines) [Official PV]

Did this when the YT automatic release came out but I wanna put this here since I forgot to credit Teddyloid for some reason. Sorry king you didn't deserve that.

Other Cool Stuff:

Au - イーハトーヴォの比喩 (ft. Yuzuki Yukari)

nyanyannya - Hai no Uta (ft. Kagamine Rin)

Akuta Renri - My last words (ft. KAFU)

nuu - Kiliar (ft. RIME)

Shitoo - Hachigatsu Youka (ft. Hatsune Miku)

zer0h (orig. Kikuo) - Don’t Look at Me Like That_REMIX (ft. Kaai Yuki)

legata - kyu (ft. Hatsune Miku, Hanakuma Chifuyu)

[vocaloidcurated]

Song title: BAD Producer: Pleco Voicebank: Chis-A Mood: groovy, gloomy, provocative Why you should listen: unsettlingly addictive song and video to vibe to. Content warning: flashing

[garden-ghoul]

Happy gushiwensday Monday! This week, Laurence has chosen us a love poem by Li Qingzhao, whose title I have translated “Lady-love.”

your lovely face is like a lotus that blooms when you laugh and the jewelled duck flying through your hair somehow makes your cheek look more kissable and the way your eyes move over me--well, anyone could guess what you're thinking! your whole bearing, your everything is deeply charming. oh, this half-letter won't hold all this sweet-bitter longing, my faraway heart, and watching the flowers' moonshadows creep across the garden makes me want to see you again.

this one’s heavily interpreted, notes and original text under the cut!

浣溪沙·闺情

绣面芙蓉一笑开，斜飞宝鸭衬香腮。眼波才动被人猜。 一面风情深有韵，半笺娇恨寄幽怀。月移花影约重来。

My primary goal for this one was to produce something I wouldn’t be ashamed to send to MY girlfriend in a fit of tender horny longing, so I went a more interpretive and less literal route with my translation. I actually didn’t know that Li Qingzhao was a woman when I translated it, so this is officially a homosexual translation I guess.

Lady-love --- this is a pun, kind of. The title could also be translated as “woman emotions,” maybe. Maybe given that the poet is also a woman it’s a TRIPLE pun??

lovely face --- originally 绣面, which reads more literally as “embroidered surface.” Lol. It confused us a lot. But 面 can also be face like someone’s face, and 绣 is frequently used as a metaphor for more general beauty, as in 绣房 (embroidered room, or a boudoir) and 锦绣 (brocade embroidery, or beautiful).

makes your cheek look more kissable --- 衬香腮, “against skin fragrant cheek.” Gushiwen suggested that the duck ornament brings out vividness in her face through contrast. My lovestruck poetsona is somewhat less coherent about it.

the way your eyes move --- this entire sentence has extremely puzzling syntax, but the driving image here is 眼波, the wave of a person’s eye---I imagine the glance as a fluid moving over someone. It’s an interesting idiom! Pleco tells us it’s specifically a flirtatious look, but 波 evokes more crashing waves or rushing water, so maybe it’s a glance that takes your breath away?

this half-letter... heart --- it’s really not clear to me what Ms Li intended the poetic function of the half-letter to be; all it says in this line is “half letter tender regret send faraway heart.” So I’ve done a lot of interpretation to fill in the gaps, including casting the lady love as the poet’s heart which has been removed.

and watching... see you again --- the stunning conciseness of 约重来, “invites starting over,” demands a better poet than me to translate it. The implication in this line is just that a moonlit night is the best time to see your girl, but it’s worded wonderfully... I think the flowers’ shadows 移 “altered” by the moon brings a little bit of the implication of the poet as the humble flower made more special by a lady’s light.

[raccoonzinspace]

I was watching a voiceover of a Fluffy Comic (Taking Care of a Sea Fluffy by EllenAliens), and I will certainly say that Sea Fluffies are basically the mammalian equivalent to goldfish/plecos.

What I mean by that is Sea Fluffies would do best in a pond and NOT in a tiny bowl being owned by an irresponsible kid. They also produce insane amounts of biological waste, so yeah. :)

[fishfactsfriday]

Fish Facts #11 Catfish

Catfish are a very diverse group of critters, living all across the globe, in costal waters and inland (that means both salt and fresh water) and in every single continent minus Antartica!

Catfish are generally bottom feeders, evident by there whiskers which is where they get the cat in there name from. Those whiskers are actually called barbels but some catfish don’t even have them! They also have downward facing mouths, consuming whatever might lurk in the mud like larvae for younger fish and plants, crawfish and snails for some adults. However they can become carnivores, swallowing some fish whole.

Most catfish don’t have scales and instead are very slimy leathery skin, and they don’t have skin for a particular reason, they are simply built different.

However there is a catfish that has armor, the aptly named armored catfish. It is covered in triangular bony plates and are one of the few catfish that use there eyes rather then relying on sense of smell.

Catfish drastically differ in sizes, such as the small Bristlenose Pleco often kept in aquariums to feed on algae which only reaches about 5 inches (12.7 cm) at maturity,

to the gigantic Mekong catfish which can get up to a record 9 ft (2.7 m) and weighed at 646 lbs (293 kg)!!

catfish also make a sort of growling sound out of water, a sound produced by the air going through its gills

Originally created June 25, 2021

Sources lost

[divinebastet]

you fool. you have activated my trap card

i wouldn't recommend a pleco/goldfish combination because both produce a lot of waste, which can tank your water quality fast. especially if you are not the sort to do regular water changes or get really hands-on with the aquarium care.

but hey if you do want a lil aquarium friend and have space/money/maintenance constraints, i did write a nano aquarium setup guide a while back :3

[rigelmejo]

listening reading method updates

Some updates because I’ve done Listening Reading Method maybe 10-15 hours within the past week and wow is it worth doing (for me) if done properly:

First some notes of what “properly” means for me: It means I’ve done step 2 at some point (since I’m using all books I have at least vague prior context for whether its this past year or in life I’ve seen them before). It means I do step 2 first. Then I do step 3, with parallel text so I keep my place OR do it in Pleco (doing step 3 in Pleco is strangely super effective for me).

So, I’ve been testing my general listening comprehension. How I’ve tested it: listening to some audio file of a chapter I did with L R method, and see if I can understand it better. So no text aid. Also generally some time gap (at least a few days) between when I did L R, and when I listen to test my comprehension.

Limits of test: this is not new material - I have both prior context of the plot, and doing L R method on the material before means I have intensively studied that audio material with L R method at one point. I’m trying to find some ‘totally unknown’ stuff to test with too we’ll see.

Benefits of the test: its easy to compare my progress, because I’ve listened to these audios many times so I know where my ‘comprehension’ of them was at a few months ago. I can more easily compare.

---

So anyway, has L R Method helped listening comprehension? YES god oh my god. 

I listened to Chapter 9 of Guardian’s audiobook just falling asleep, because I didn’t feel like full on L R Method the chapter (I have done Listening Reading Method for chapters 1-8). I could understand enough to follow the entire main plot and all the main scenes - a few descriptive sentences lost me, but I got all the action-related (touched reached stood cried shouted left side pocket held objects movement and set phrases priest uses for certain expressions), key emotion related (like sad cold warm kind sharp worried investigated pushed shivered and set phrases I remember priest using for certain expressions) details, and got all of the main dialogue (this part context helps for though since words like reincarnation and sundial are fairly new to me and I only understand since I already ran into them in previous chapters I’ve done L R Method with). 

I was freaking FLOORED I could just listen and enjoy the story, so today I listened to chapter 1 again. And YEP - same thing applied. I could follow all of the main plot, main scenes, and certain details. I totally missed the part where he talks about his aunt/uncle but I heard his bad grades, got the letter for a job notice, how he hates phone calls, his plan to go, him getting to the place, what the place looked like and Wang Zheng and all the scenes at the job - so like I mentioned, actions/emotions/real objects being interacted with I can mostly follow. The paragraphs of description background (like Guo Changcheng’s upbringing and how his uncle got him a job) are harder for me to catch everything - I am guessing because there’s more description phrases and less straightforward action=response. (For example - xiao guo sees Lao Wu, they respond, so its easy to follow, or he sees Wang Zheng and faints, or he walks into the courtyard and reads the address - all of these moments directly focus on things and react which is easier to follow). 

For the first time I can say I can listen to just the audiobook and follow it enough to enjoy the plot and what’s mainly going on without any text aid. And I’ve only done the listening reading method for 8 chapters! That’s 40-50 minutes a chapter, around 360 minutes or 6 hours. 6 hours spent Listening Reading Method Guardian, and I already see a huge boost in what I can comprehend in listening! (I also did some random L R method chapters of other stuff so add 1-2 hours - that’s still like 8 hours total... that ain’t much). 

Last time I listened to guardian audiobook without any text aid (a few months ago), I could hear some words I knew and some phrases, and had a vague understanding of when he got to the job (heard courtyard and si ming hao), met Lao Wu (i heard him report for duty), when he talked to zhao yunlan and got generally welcomed, met Wang Zheng and thought ‘he has no feet’ and got scared. No fucking details. The vaguest impression of the main plot mainly because I’ve read the chapter before and knew the scenes coming. But that was still eons better than Before That - around 6 months ago i listened to chapter 1 like 5 times until i could hear some phrases instead of just isolated words. 

This time, I could follow things because I could HEAR what was actually going on, not just because I heard some keywords. I could clearly hear the details about Guo Changcheng entering the courtyard, reading the address and special investigations name, go up to Lao Wu and report in and Lao Wu greet him warmly and excitedly mention how lucky it is he came today that their boss is there! And fawn over how cool the boss is, and all the specifics of the convo with Zhao Yunlan (and half of his appearance like how he’s handsome and heroic looking and had a hand in his pocket and seemed cold until he noticed them and smiled and acted warm and friendly). And all the scenes were like that - like with Wang Zheng I could hear all the details of Guo Changcheng freaking out, eventually noticing her head had been cut and it wasn’t a necklace it was like sewn on and how he passed out. It was soooo much better ToT. The amount of comprehension is sooooo much higher than the last time I tried to listen! It shocks me how much better! This is enough comprehension to actually listen and just enjoy it. ToT

So yeah, I’d say Listening Reading Method, as I’m doing it right now, is making noticeable improvements in my reading skill and listening skill. 

So yeah I’m super curious how listening comprehension is gonna be 20 chapters into Listening Reading Method. 

What I do think this would be good for, if you were studying short term? If you wanted to understand a specific audiobook - doing L R Method with the book until you can listen to the rest. It would probably take a short enough amount of study to do within a month if you already have some skills in the language (since this is with 6-8 hours of study). I saw someone once do SRS Flashcard study based on a show they liked in a foreign language, and within a month they could watch that show they liked without english subs and follow the main plot. I think L R Method with a novel works kind of similar - its intensive study on one story. So within a reasonably short amount of time (10-50 hours maybe, something that can be done within a month) you can get enough comprehension skill of that One story to understand it ok. 

I imagine you need to do L R Method longer, and with either a word dense material (lots of varied vocab) or else multiple stories (ideally different authors and genres), in order to get broader listening skill improvement. Like right now my listening skill in general seems to have improved somewhat... but its more like ‘listening to a show without subs’ is now easier. Not like I can turn on a brand new audiobook and follow it this well. So some slightly easier listening activity is now easier, but for other audiobooks I am probably comprehending more but the listening skill improvement is NOT as drastic as it is specifically with Guardian. 

Testing listening comprehension with materials I have not L R Method with:

Alice in Wonderland (story is shorter/simpler than novel): I can follow it mostly when listening only. I can follow it near entirely (know exactly what’s going on just a few words I don’t recognize) if I’m looking at the video (since it has pictures for context - like watching a show). My listening comprehension drops noticeably if I do NOT look at the video visuals for an aid - since I am used to Alice in Wonderland hitting the original novel beats, not this shorter movie-based version. This level of comprehension makes sense, as its written simpler than Guardian so I should have an easier time following details in this. But lack of context means I have to put more effort into figuring out what scene is what if I don’t have any visual cues. So easier ‘written’ audiobook material is much more comprehensible now (easier than Guardian even since I know most words), but I still need context like an image or prior awareness of the overall plot or else I need to pay more careful attention to follow everything: https://youtu.be/HqCg5y8Nwhg

Sherlock Holmes 血字的研究: Some benefit just like Alice in Wonderland in that I have broad context (I know Watson and Sherlock live and work together to solve issues, Watson is a verteran and doctor). First 5 minutes I can vaguely tell its probably Watson narrating, that he lives in London, that before he might have been injured (I heard bing like sick or?) - I’m truly not sure what happened, and now after 5 minutes I heard ‘great friend’ and ‘touched shoulder’ and ‘gaoxing’ so happy. So I’m guessing Sherlock and Watson are interacting now. What improvement in my listening comprehension I can Notice - is that words stick out, phrases, and sentence structures (like finally, since, therefore, actions). So I feel if I paused I might be able to look up some words I notice but can’t understand, to follow along better. As the 2 of them have their conversation I can catch SOME details and I could probably follow what’s going on IF I had some prior context (like what the general case is about). But I only hear - its a pity, what happened last night, poor lad, fangzi, destination. So i’m not sure if someone died or was hurt or what happened the other night?? But again, conversations seem to be the easiest part to follow. For this particular audiobook I almost feel like if I just kept consistently listening or re-listening, I could understand more... like I probably know more words than I’m catching, but since my brain’s working on trying to catch the main gist plot right now its not grasping any details I might otherwise be able to notice. No prior context of plot, no image - hard lol. Unlike guardian, I cannot follow most of it. But I can catch bits of each scene, most clear are the dialogue parts (but cause I have no surrounding contexts I’m still pretty lost). Also the clear action parts are easier to follow (he spoke, moved, reacted to something). Mostly the lack of context is what’s making me struggle. In the descriptions I hear a lot phrases and words I recognize, but I’m struggling to comprehend them together. Unfortunately context is mostly in the description parts I can’t figure out lol. https://youtu.be/J1sbP6_3680

I suspect an audio DRAMA might be a little easier now. Since they’re mostly dialogue, and dialogue seems to be what I’m finding the most improvement in (from very vague to some of the clearest comprehended parts). I listened to tian ya ke audiodrama a few days ago and it was doable to follow along with - but that was before more Listening Reading Method, and of course my prior context (having seen the show/read part of the novel) means it was muchhhh easier to follow cause I had enough context to guess which scene each moment was supposed to be - so I didn’t have to figure out overall context, just details. 

[mental-autopsy]

The life-cycle of the Bristlenose Catfish (also known as the Bristlenose Pleco)

Starring my pair, Milton (the girl) and Titan (the boy). By the way, don’t worry about the fact the eggs are out of the water, I remove the eggs from the tank before babies can develop as a single batch can produce more than a hundred babies.

[hunxi-guilai]

曲尽陈情 QUJINCHENQING / A FULL EXPLANATION

INTRODUCTION:

曲尽陈情 Qujinchenqing (spotify link here, YouTube link here) is the fifth track on the CQL companion album, and the first track that is not an iteration of 无羁 Wuji. It is Wei Wuxian’s character song, and performed by Xiao Zhan.

The song’s title involves several layers of wordplay—first, 曲尽 qujin on its own means “to exhaustively detail,” and is part of the chengyu 曲尽其妙 qujinqimiao, which Pleco glosses as “to bring out (a quality, point, etc.) in a subtle and skillful way.” The chengyu has its origins in Lu You’s 《文赋序》 Wenfu Xu / “Preface to the Rhapsody on Language,” where he uses it to describe the ability of the text to both thoroughly describe and brilliantly render the subtle excellence of literary performance. Meanwhile, 陈情 chenqing is a fairly complex binome that I get into in this post. Its literary definition, derived from the 《楚辞》 Chuci, means “to give a full account/to explain oneself fully.” Pieced together, the song’s title then becomes something along the lines of “to give a full account in an exhaustive and detailed manner.”

Alternatively, the characters 曲尽 qujin can be broken down into “song” and “end,” and as such, a plausible alternate song title might be “by song’s end, a full account.” Since this song is functionally Wei Wuxian’s autobiography, this interpretation of the song’s title plays on both the medium and the content. Pushing the language even farther, and taking the 陈情 chenqing of the title to refer to Wei Wuxian’s ghost flute, one might conceivably go so far as to interpret this title as “songs end with Chenqing,” which resonates nicely with the phrase 陈情一曲领天下 Chenqing yiqu ling tianxia / “a song from Chenqing commands all under heaven.”

PRODUCTION STAFF:

Lyricist: 易者连消醉清酒 Yizhe Lianxiao Zuiqingjiu

Composer: within_轶名

Arranger: 向往 Xiang Wang

Mixing / Mastering: within_轶名

Operatic Voice: aki 阿杰

Additional Voices: 阿南sara

Flute: 囚牛 Qiong Niu

Recorder: 浩渺天心_刘宇航 Haomiao Tianxin_Liu Yuhang

Producer: 黄喜Luffy Huang/within_轶名

Supervisor: 黄喜Luffy Huang/王鑫 Wang Xin

Performed by: 肖战 Xiao Zhan

LYRICS + TRANSLATION:

纵棹趁夜风小眠 / I man the oars, setting sail with the night wind, then rest

载一舟江烟 / carrying a boat of river mists

晚来揽星归 / I return late, with an armful of stars

摘片柳叶[1]吹彻天边 / I pick willow leaves and blow them to the sky’s edge

展开泛黄的纸鸢 / Spreading the wings of a yellowed kite,

回首旧人间 / I look back on a world before

江灯飘遥远 / Red lanterns drift away

往事随波如又一篇 / Past affairs, like waves—a new one washes to shore

高台倚栏前 / On a high platform, I leaned against the railing

衔杯观花满长街 / raising a cup, I watched as flowers filled the street

玄武洞天 / In the Xuanwu’s cave,

也曾浇血洗剑 / I once washed my sword with blood

讥评堪过耳 / I endured mocking words and criticisms

心本勇绝何惧人言 / If my heart is courageous, why should I fear the words of others?

纵入火海[2] / Even should I sink into an ocean of flames

仍抱怀垂怜 / I would still harbor this hope of helping the world in my heart

也曾笑夺酒坛 / I once laughed, stealing a jar of wine

剑挑姑苏十里春[3] / teasing Gusu’s spring wind with my sword

无关生死事 / I didn’t think about affairs of life or death

老来尽作江湖诗中人[4] / just imagined that I would be known in poems of the jianghu when I passed

窗外玉兰影深 / Outside the window, the shadows of the magnolia flowers deepen—

前生是梦还是真 / was this past life a dream, or reality?

隔世春秋后 / A world later, springs and autumns later,

昔年因果皆是“曾听闻” / the events of past years have all become “I once heard…”

身陨不夜天 / I fell at Nightless City

谁信年少无虚言 / Who would believe that, in my youth, my words were not empty?

为义之诺 / For a promise of righteousness

也曾削笛舍剑 / I once carved a flute and discarded the sword

流言任在前 / Though rumors still swirl before me,

丹心犹热[5]何须来辩 / this righteous and loyal heart still beats—what need is there for debate?

世事皆千人 千言千面 / The affairs of the world, retold by a thousand people, have a thousand names, wear a thousand faces

也曾惊鸿过眼[6] / I once caught a glimpse of a startled swan,

指尖轻挑卷云纹 / teasing lightly at curling cloud embroidery with my fingertips

无端引弦震 / For no reason, I would provoke the strings to quake—

缘何梦中深记那一瞬 / why do I remember that moment so vividly in dreams?

树下落英纷纷 / Beneath the trees, flower petals scatter—

此刻是梦还是真 / is this moment a dream, or reality?

偕行云游后 / After our wanderings together

世外江湖皆是“据传闻” / stories of us in the jianghu become “according to legend…”

丹心何须言在口 / With a loyal heart, what need is there to constantly speak it out?

横笛闲吹落星斗[7] / I raise my flute, playing idly until the stars fall

使我徒有身后名 / Even if my name were to live on after death

不如及时一杯酒[8] / that would be no match for a cup of wine right now

也曾怀拥人间 / I once held the mortal realm in my heart

使我独享一枝春[9] / which made me, alone, appreciate a single sprig of spring

无关生死事 / I don’t think about affairs of life or death—

缘何尽作江湖诗中人 / why not become a character in jianghu poems?

门外声浅影深 / Outside the door, sounds are few, the shadows deep—

相逢是梦还是真 / is our meeting a dream, or reality?

隔世春秋后 / A world later, springs and autumns later,

前生因果终会落成痕 / the events of my past life will eventually settle, leaving behind only traces

ANNOTATIONS:

[1] Willows, and their leaves, are commonly associated with 1) beautiful women, and 2) parting/farewells in the Chinese literary tradition.

[2] 火海 huohai, literally “oceans of flame,” is the second half of the chengyu 刀山火海 daoshan huohai—“mountains of daggers, oceans of flame.” It is used to describe trials of great difficulty in the vein of “crossing mountains made of daggers and fording oceans of flame.” As far as I can tell, it traces its origins to an early, Eastern Han 安士高 An Shigao translation of a Buddhist text , 《佛说鬼问目连经》—the particular line is “我一生已来，或登刀山剑树地狱。或堕火坑镬汤地狱,” which isn’t quite “oceans of flame” but gets very close.

[3] I’ve opted for a moderately literal translation here; full literal for 剑挑姑苏十里春 would have been something along the lines of “using my sword, I tease ten li of Gusu spring” (a li is a unit of distance, roughly half a kilometer) which makes no semantic sense, so thanks for that, Wei Wuxian. Some baidu-sleuthing brought me two poems: the first, 《春》 “Spring” by contemporary poet 冯唐 Feng Tang contains the lines “十里春风，不如你” / ten li of spring winds cannot compare to you. Looking farther back, there’s 《赠别二首·其一》 “Two Poems, Presented at Parting” by Tang Dynasty poet 杜牧 Du Mu, which contains the lines “十里春风扬州路，卷上珠帘都不如” / ten li of spring winds along the Yangzhou roads / pearl curtains, rolled up—none can compare to her. As far as I can tell, the evocation of “ten li of spring [winds]” is a 歇后语 xiehouyu (a particular subspecies of Chinese idiom where the first, spoken phrase implies a second, unspoken phrase) of sorts: both poems use the imagery of “ten miles of spring winds” to refer to the object/intended recipient of the poem, a person of great beauty. The first line of each of the three choruses in Wei Wuxian’s song refer to Lan Wangji.

[4] These two lines deserves a little detangling, I think: a fuller translation of 无关生死事，老来尽作江湖诗中人 might be “Regardless of affairs of life or death, [I imagined] that, by the time I died in my old age, I would be known as a character in the poems of the jianghu” (the jianghu, for anyone new to the wuxia/xianxia genres, refers to the liminal fantasy space where martial sects reign and roving heroes go on grand adventures). This line hearkens back to a younger, pre-Sunshot Wei Wuxian and those sunlit days in Gusu before the war came for all of them. Becoming a legend, to be immortalized in poems written about the jianghu, is a sentiment that resonates with the Jiang sect’s origins as a sect of 游侠 youxia / wandering heroes or knight-errants, and the corresponding connotations thereof.

[5] I translated 丹心犹热 as “this righteous and loyal heart still beats,” but literally, here, it’s more like “this righteous and loyal heart is still warm”—i.e., he’s not dead yet, don’t write him off so soon. The point is, his heart is still functioning, so I swapped out warmth for still beating because that’s a literary usage we’re more familiar with in English.

[6] 惊鸿过眼 jinghong guoyan, as far as I can tell, is a variation on the chengyu 惊鸿一瞥 jinghong yipie, literally “startled swan, fleeting glimpse,” or, teased out a bit, “the fleeting glimpse of a startled swan taking flight.” The chengyu evokes the feeling of barely catching a glimpse of something moving quickly out of the corner of your eye, but the sight still leaving behind a deep impression of beauty. The origin of this chengyu seems to lie in 曹植 Cao Zhi’s 《洛神赋》 “Rhapsody of the Luo River Goddess,” referring to said ethereally beautiful goddess. Once again, Wei Wuxian is referring to Lan Wangji.

[7] The way I’ve translated this line is a bit ambiguous—does his playing cause the stars to fall out of the sky? Or is he playing all night, such that the stars fall out of the sky by dawn? It’s a little less ambiguous in the original—he’s pulling a flute-sponsored all-nighter, until the stars fall below the horizon again and normal people get up.

[8] Wei Wuxian recites these same two lines in episode 29 of the show, quoting a passage from the 《世说新语》 Shishuoxinyu, a text from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, about a literati and civil servant who famously gave up his government post in favor of returning to his hometown and the delights of the alcohol and cuisine there.

[9] “A sprig of spring,” for the record, is a very faithful translation of 一枝春 yizhichun. It’s an ambiguous but evocative phrase that is usually used to describe a spray of plum blossoms (plum blossoms being one of the 岁寒三友 suihansanyou, the “Three Friends of Winter,” known as a symbol of beauty blooming in the face of adversity, among other virtuous traits). The point here is that, in addition to comparing him to spring winds and swans, Wei Wuxian is comparing Lan Wangji to plum blossoms.

ONCE MORE WITH CLARITY VERSION:

I man the oars, setting sail with the night wind, then rest

carrying a boat of river mists

I return late, with an armful of stars

I pick willow leaves and blow them to the sky’s edge

Spreading the wings of a yellowed kite,

I look back on a world before

Red lanterns drift away

Past affairs, like waves—a new one washes to shore

On a high platform, I leaned against the railing

raising a cup, I watched as flowers filled the street

In the Xuanwu’s cave,

I once washed my sword with blood

I endured mocking words and criticisms

If my heart is courageous, why should I fear the words of others?

Even should I sink into an ocean of flames

I would still harbor this hope of helping the world in my heart

I once laughed, stealing a jar of wine

teasing Gusu’s spring wind with my sword

I didn’t think about affairs of life or death

just imagined that I would be known in poems of the jianghu when I passed

Outside the window, the shadows of the magnolia flowers deepen—

was this past life a dream, or reality?

A world later, springs and autumns later,

the events of past years have all become “I once heard…”

I fell at Nightless City

Who would believe that, in my youth, my words were not empty?

For a promise of righteousness

I once carved a flute and discarded the sword

Though rumors still swirl before me,

this righteous and loyal heart still beats—what need is there for debate?

The affairs of the world, retold by a thousand people, have a thousand names, wear a thousand faces

I once caught a glimpse of a startled swan,

teasing lightly at curling cloud embroidery with my fingertips

For no reason, I would provoke the strings to quake—

why do I remember that moment so vividly in dreams?

Beneath the trees, flower petals scatter—

is this moment a dream, or reality?

After our wanderings together

stories of us in the jianghu become “according to legend…”

With a loyal heart, what need is there to constantly speak it out?

I raise my flute, playing idly until the stars fall

Even if my name were to live on after death

that would be no match for a cup of wine right now

I once held the mortal realm in my heart

which made me, alone, appreciate a single sprig of spring

I don’t think about affairs of life or death—

why not become a character in jianghu poems?

Outside the door, sounds are few, the shadows deep—

is our meeting a dream, or reality?

A world later, springs and autumns later,

the events of my past life will eventually settle, leaving behind only traces

MORE PL TRANSLATIONS:

masterlist

PL Translations: an introduction

无羁 Wuji

[pumpkinpaix]

this is gonna sound so harsh but im legit tired of chinese diaspora people who think that bc they are of chinese descent and they have pleco they can act like voices of authority in the fandom. if modao is the 1st chinese book you have read pieces of with a dictionary, if you have never interacted with the actual chinese fandom, you are not part of the intended audience and your biased opinion is not the One And Only Valid Truth 🍵

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree | this is really hard for me to express in terms of an agree/disagree axis lol

genuinely cannot tell if you’re trying to shade me here anon lmao 😂

this got long and rambly (of course) asldkjfslj. i would love to make the excuse that it’s bc i’ve got a migraine and had No Sleep but. let’s be real i’m always like this.

ok i’ll start with where i agree: i don’t think anyone has the right to act like an ultimate voice of authority in fandom. i think different people with different backgrounds have varying realms of expertise and they should be respected when they share that knowledge, but that the instant someone starts to use that kind of power as a weapon against people they personally don’t like, i think they forfeit that privilege. no one has the one and only valid truth about a piece of media because that’s fundamentally impossible. i have definitely interacted with diaspo who behave like their heritage gives them some kind of incontrovertible authority over everyone else, and they’re fucking insufferable and often rather cruel, even/especially towards other diaspo. meet me in the denny’s parking lot and fight me for real. i’ll kick ur ass. >:c

however, I also think it’s true that there’s a lot of dismissal of heritage fans in this fandom, if that makes sense, from both sides of the equation: non-Chinese fans ignore our cultural hangups because they’re inconvenient, and non-diaspora disdain us for being not Chinese enough. that puts a lot of us in a position of feeling disrespected just for being who we are, or having our very real knowledge and unique experience as individuals devalued because of it.

regardless of my identity, I have formally studied a lot of things: literary translation, media analysis, the politics of oppression, film critique, religious studies, philosophy, four foreign languages etc. and that is all knowledge that I had to work for, and work hard for. I do have a certain measure of authority on all of these subjects over a layperson (to varying degrees), and there are going to be times when i will be more correct than someone who disagrees with me -- but I’ve also absolutely experienced people talking over that specialized knowledge because of who I am, which is, to be clear. extremely infuriating and hurtful. like, i have cried so much about it in the last 18 months. people see my racial and cultural identity before they see anything else, which is understandable to a degree, but upsetting when it becomes the basis for how my work is judged, whether positive or negative. i don’t want you to trust me blindly because i’m abc. I want to you to trust me because you have examined my work critically and judged it to be trustworthy!

so i guess this is getting into the strongly disagree part of the answer: i’ve been speaking a lot with other diaspora fans lately, and it’s been simultaneously hugely relieving and also really saddening. relieving because oh thank god someone else Gets It, and saddening because pretty much all of us, no matter what kind of diaspo we are (north american, european, SEA, taiwanese etc), we’ve all experienced a lot of pressure in this fandom, from non-Chinese, Chinese, and other diaspora fans alike. we’re all acutely aware that we are not modao’s intended audience because being diaspora vs being “from the mainland” or whatever, are actually quite different things, but modao still feels close to home. even if it was not written FOR us it is still familiar to us.

and, because so many of us are multilingual and multicultural, we end up being the bridge between the “actual” chinese fandom and the english-speaking fandom, which is largely made up of non-chinese. (sidenote: I hate it when people say things about being “actually” any identity because it’s almost always for the exact reason you brought up: to use heritage as street cred. it’s like damn, being “actually” chinese doesn’t make ur opinions any less rank. sure you might be “actually” chinese, but do you have basic reading comprehension and literary criticism skills? no? ok then sit your ass back down) many of us are most comfortable in english! so we produce our content in english! but we also DO often have a somewhat privileged access to the culture that underlies mdzs and can explain it in a language that other non-Chinese fans can understand. so it’s not surprising that people flock to us for answers to their cultural questions. and like. if we think we know the answer, it’s natural for us to try and help. this is fandom! we’re here to have fun and find community! and it is definitely a little bit nice to have my culture treated as something desirable for once instead of just like. a weird exotic curiosity that no one really cares too deeply about. and, since a lot of us are able to do things that non-Chinese fans can’t (research in chinese, for example. ask family members for help and more information etc.) we end up just having more information to share.

I think this sometimes results in a tendency for fandom at large to put heritage/diaspo fans on pedestals and tout them as authorities (or use our conflicting viewpoints as ammunition in fandom drama) when the diaspo in question have repeatedly stated that they should not be taken as authorities on something -- and then, once you reach critical mass, your reputation starts to precede you, and I think there’s a lot of misconceptions of how a lot of diaspo act in this fandom simply because of that phenomenon. most of us know that we’re not ultimate arbiters of some kind of cultural gateway, and it can be very tiring both to be treated as such when we insist we are not, and then punished by other people who assume that we acted like we were.

i don’t think there’s a benefit in trying to keep en fandom and cn fandom totally separate, and I also think it’s unfair to consider the cn fandom the “real” fandom. i think that way lies deeper misunderstandings, gatekeeping, etc. i think we can definitely acknowledge the differences between them, but i think trying to make meaningful connections between fandom circles is really valuable! i don’t think i’ve ever made it a secret that modao is my first cmedia fandom? so it’s also the first time i’ve had reason to interact with chinese fandom, which has been super enlightening and interesting! i’ve made some super cool friends and learned a lot about how fandom works in china, how it’s similar and how it differs from the fandom i’m familiar with.

and then, kind of circling back around, there’s also a bit of a sense like, okay, so if diaspo don’t belong in the CN fandom, but we can’t talk about our own culture with some degree of confidence in EN fandom, then like..... where do we go...? if we see EN fandom doing something that contradicts our cultural knowledge, do we just. not say anything? do we not count unless we’ve already ingratiated ourselves to CN fandom? that’s probably where the core of my strong disagreement comes from, because criticism of diaspora fans as like, acting above their station so to speak, feels just like a tired continuation of the same shit we’ve had to deal with for our whole lives, being told we’re not good enough for anywhere and that we should just be quiet and keep our heads down and get over it. that our opinions, despite coming from a unique perspective with a unique relationship to the subject in question, are less valid or real than “actual” chinese people, you know? and sometimes i see that and im like lmfao just sneer at me for being jook-sing and leave then if you’re so eager to think of me as lesser.

so yeah, basically im of a few minds: true! diaspora fans don’t get to throw their weight around just because they’re diaspo. they don’t get carte blanche to act like bullies or try to shape the fandom to their own personal liking and crusade against people who disagree with them. they don’t get to pretend their heritage makes them superior to everyone else, and i think western diaspora especially need to be careful when asserting any kind of moral lens over the text to acknowledge that we have our own biases to interrogate. i am not immune.meme etc. on the other hand, this vein of criticism tends to put all diaspo in a bit of a double-bind, and also, however unintentionally, plays into the general, continuous trend of dismissing diaspora for being diaspora, and i’m really not about that. i don’t think that’s the motivation behind opinions like this, but i do think that when the basis for the argument hinges on the idea that diaspora are not “real” chinese, no matter how much I too have beef with certain diaspora fans, the argument needs to be revisited. 

(ko-fi)

🍵 ((un)popular) opinions meme

[linghxr]

倒序词：Inverted/Palindromic Words

I’m sure you’ve noticed in your Chinese studies that there are some words for which you can switch the order of the characters and get a new word! In Chinese these can be called 倒序词. I’ve put together a list of 20 倒序词 pairs, most of which I’ve stumbled across over the past couple years. It’s so interesting to see the relationships between the words! Most example sentences are via Pleco.

牙刷 yáshuā - toothbrush 一把牙刷 刷牙 shuā//yá - to brush one’s teeth 我每天睡觉前刷牙。

开放 kāifàng - to bloom / to open / to be open (to the public) / to open up (to the outside) / to be open-minded / unrestrained by convention 图书馆从上午9点开放到下午6点。 放开 fàng//kāi - to let go / to release 妈妈放开了女儿的手。

喜欢 xǐhuan - to like / to be fond of 你喜欢不喜欢中国音乐？ 欢喜 huānxǐ - happy / joyous / delighted / to like / to be fond of 她心跳加速，满心欢喜。

著名 zhùmíng - famous / noted / well-known / celebrated 我们的中文老师是一位著名的小说家。 名著 míngzhù - masterpiece, famous book, celebrated work 我最近读的名著有点太多了。

犯罪 fàn//zuì - to commit a crime / crime / offense 听到她的犯罪历史，我大吃一惊。 罪犯 zuìfàn - criminal 警察还没有抓到那些罪犯。

事故 shìgù - accident 事故的原因还在调查之中。 故事 gùshì - old practice || gùshi - narrative / story / tale 这是一个真实的故事。

女儿 nǚ'ér - daughter 他们的三个孩子都是女儿，没有儿子。 儿女 érnǚ - children / sons and daughters 儿女有赡养老人的义务。

蜜蜂 mìfēng - bee / honeybee 一只蜜蜂 蜂蜜 fēngmì - honey 一罐蜂蜜

讲演 jiǎngyǎn - to lecture / to speak publicly 他的讲演你听了没有？ 演讲 yǎnjiǎng - lecture / to make a speech 演讲深深地打动了听众。

适合 shìhé - to fit / to suit 这种电影不适合儿童看。 合适 héshì - suitable / fitting / appropriate 这个词用在这里不合适。

代替 dàitì - to replace / to take the place of 你要是自己不能去，可以找个人来代替。 替代 tìdài - to substitute for / to replace / to supersede 他在这家公司被认为是不可替代的。

感情 gǎnqíng - emotion / sentiment / affection / feelings between two persons 你要理解她的感情。 情感 qínggǎn - feeling / emotion / to move (emotionally) 我们之间的情感很深。

语言 yǔyán - language 学一门语言，就是多一个观察世界的窗户。 言语 yányǔ - words / speech / (spoken) language || yányu - to speak / to tell 他这个人不爱言语。

人情 rénqíng - human emotions / social relationship / friendship / favor / a good turn 他很重人情，朋友的事总是愿意帮忙。 情人 qíngrén - lover / sweetheart 他始终爱着初恋的情人。

带领 dàilǐng - to guide / to lead 老师带领同学们去参观博物馆。 领带 lǐngdài - necktie 一条领带

愿意 yuànyì - to wish / to want / ready / willing (to do sth) 父母都愿意自己的孩子幸福。 意愿 yìyuàn - aspiration / wish / desire 他们违抗父母的意愿结婚了。

人名 rénmíng - personal name 这些外国人名和地名都译了音。 名人 míngrén - personage / celebrity 这个名人的手笔值几千块。

笔画 bǐhuà - strokes of a Chinese character 这个字笔画太多。 画笔 huàbǐ - paintbrush 一支画笔

生产 shēngchǎn - to produce / to manufacture / to give birth to a child 这家工厂去年生产一万辆汽车。 产生 chǎnshēng - to arise / to come into being / to come about / to give rise to / to bring into being / to bring about / to produce / to engender / to generate / to appear / appearance / emergence / generation / production / yield 新科技的应用产生了一些新的社会问题。

实现 shíxiàn - to achieve / to implement / to realize / to bring about 她实现了当演员的愿望。 现实 xiànshí - reality / actuality / real / actual / realistic / pragmatic / materialistic / self-interested 现实往往不那么美好。

[vocaloidcurated]

Song title: Grotesque Tempura Lover Producer: Pleco Voicebank: Chis-A Mood: cute, funky, poisonous Why you should listen: an EDM track that’s alluringly bouncy with a sickening edge.

[cheysfishblog]

What Is the Actual Care Sheet for Goldfish?

There is no right way to take care of goldfish. Every fancy goldfish keeper has a method to their madness. There are though, a few important key points that every goldfish keeper should keep in mind:

1) Some varieties of fancy goldfish do better in low and wide tanks than tall and short tanks.

2) Fancy goldfish do better in room temperature like conditions. Even though, having them outside does get them more conditioned to varying temperatures.

3) Fancy goldfish can be kept outside or inside

4) You can grow your goldfish just fine in natural or tank light, one light isn’t better than the other.

5) Unless you are breeding your goldfish, there should be more females than males in the tank. This is important so there wouldn’t be so much breeding aggression, less stress from female fish and less fighting among the males

6) Sometimes water changes and salt is the best medicine. Not everything needs to be treated with medications. Overtime, you can make your fish sicker and develop an immune compromised fish from over medicating.

7) Under-stocking or rightly stocking your tank is better than overstocking, especially for goldfish

8) The common pleco is NOT a good tank mate for goldfish, they growth bigger than goldfish and can actually kill them

9) You can use wave makers in a goldfish tank, please don’t let Facebook tell you otherwise

10) Vitamin supplementation is an interesting thing to get into for goldfish health

11) It`s okay to have a bare tank for goldfish, for some varieties, this is necessary

12) Goldfish really shouldn’t eat fruits and starchy vegetables, I don’t know why this is a thing??

13) Please don’t feed goldfish rice………. Why is this a thing??

14) Goldfish can actually produce gas if they are not kept full from continually grazing. That’s why small, frequent meals are more important then less, frequent large meals.

15) Anyone using an HOB filter for goldfish, don’t wait your money on filter cartridges, pimp up the filter instead. More money is saved and it last longer

16) For anyone using carbon media in a goldfish tank, it doesn’t expire and it doesn’t leach into the water. It just gets weaker at absorbing toxins.

17) Pay attention to the personality and behavior of your goldfish, some do better hanging around more females, being lonesome, etc.

18) Goldfish do have teeth

19) Goldfish yawn for two reasons: to clean their gills or its bad water quality

20) Goldfish don’t get itchy, if they are scratching( or flashing) : its either parasite related or environmental related that is causing them to be stressed. Or they got spooked by something.

[sagessoftwings]

Could I get a Marvel ship? I'm a 5'0 straight female with freckles (like a lot) (I'm pale as heck and I don't tan I just burn and then get freckles) , green eyes, and brown hair (I used to have a Mohawk that I dyed different colors and its still in that awkward growing out phase).

I am a Sagittarius (tho I don't really belive in that sort of stuff) and have a mediator personality on the Briggs scale.

I love to bake, sew, crochet, draw, etc... Basically anything where I get to create something. I love seeing an idea come to life. I'm constantly making things and I like to fidget with anything I get muy hands on (meaning I have a habit of breaking stuff) (oops).

I also keep freshwater aquariums and love the process of building tanks and decorating them. I especially love shrimp because they are adorable. (And kulhi loaches) (and plecos) (and mystery snails) (and everything else I own). I love my fish....

I constantly crave affection (but will never admit to that) I really love cuddling, and am definitely touch starved but anyone who knows that has figured it out themselves. Because for some reason my brain thinks I don't deserve any of it.

I am way too nice to everyone, even at my own expense and tend to Bury my emotions when I am in pain. I have Depression and some anxiety and tend to worry about if anyone I know actually likes me while simultaneously thinking that I don't deserve anyone to love me.

I also tend to go into self hatred spirals that make me try to isolate myself (and do some other stuff that's not so good for me).

I am shy and awkward as heck. But I will talk your ear off if you get to know me.

I like being nature, alone and far from others. I like hearing the birds calls and the other noises. (Plus if there is a lake I will stare at fish) (yes I have problems).

Anyway thanks in advance if you do answer this :)

Hi hi!! I ship you with Loki!!

He has such a soft spot for you and everything you do

Loves how many hobbies you have

And your fish ugh, that’s so cute to him

Takes the liberty of learning their names and talking to them when your gone our out

Will feed them too and loves to listen to you talk about them

He is such a good listener and loves to watch your face light up with glee when you talk about something you like

LokI also like to learn about your hobbies and would oh so appreciate it if you would teach him

Loves how you just create, it amazes him how one mind can produce so much creativity he adores that about you

Tells everyone and will brag ‘Oh please! Y/n could make this in the blink of an eye’

Will bring you the Asgardian equivalent to a shrimp which is actually really pretty and brightly colored

He loves to give you affection and will drown you in it

Kisses you everywhere and whispers sweet nothings to you

Loki and you both have the problem of self hatred and then end up ranting about how perfect the other is

Love to hear your voice, he always tells you it sounds like the beautiful sirens of his realm

Loki amy or may have not snuck you into asgard to adventure in the forests so you two could see the nature and go swimming in the many beautiful lakes

He teaches you about the many fish and even take you to their ocean and show you even more

He loves that teaching and learning is such a great link between the two fo your because he loves to watch your face when talking about fish and wild life

It’s so cute <33

[narelleart]

I wanted to reblog my old post about no pleco belonging in less than 30g/the whole bristlenose needing space breakdown, but looking back, I'm not sure I want to lean so heavily on my old stocking math. I know I reblogged the actual math post pretty recently, but I think it leaves too much room for tanks that are still realistically way too small.

I'm playing around with a new way to math it. It's complicated though, as always, since fish are much too variable for cookie cutter solutions to fit every need.

Ultimately the new one will be based a lot more overtly on opinion. I'm thinking along the lines of "what is the smallest tank size I would *actually* be comfortable putting Dexter into?" As always, you can never give a fish too much space and will never know if you've exceeded what their natural territory might look like unless you exceed it.

Notes to self because I'm half asleep (keep burning the candle at both ends): Remember disclaimers for increasing tank size relative to increased biomass (deep bodied or chunky fishes vs long noodly or generally streamlined fishes), increases for social fishes, increases for heavy waste producers, increases for exceptionally active species. Probably will never recommend any exceptions that result in smaller tanks.

Maybe tackle from a stance of the two limiting factors being water quality and space to move, and then in most species the latter is more limiting, but in heavy waste producing spp. or overly dense stocking you still need to worry about the former.