#yan shu-chi

[unsafescapewolf]

Summer Kofi doodles part 3!

[aru-and-leopard-cat]

rotates your husband 1 degree on the Y axis

HE IS ROTATED 😱😱😱

[nocturneneko]

shitty Shu-Chi warmup

[melbyp]

Blorbo mischaracterization is a CRIME I went to character AI and my favourite blorbo was MISINTERPRETED!!!!!!!!!

[aru-and-leopard-cat]

I love enabling people

@aru-and-leopard-cat You are the enabler of this

[fateandloveentwined]

poetry lines befitting MCS and XJY

These are mostly chinese tang shi and song ci poetry quotes, with a great biased amount from Su Shi because OP doesn't know better. Crude, 5-minute english translations below. There are lines I semi-made up or adapted from fandom/cpop songs (that is, most of Xiao Jingyan's lines), ngl OP is rather embarrassed of them because they aren't good at all looking back now but we'll just leave them here or else XJY would end up with zero quotes.

梅长苏 Mei Changsu

想那日束髪从军，想那日霜角辕门，想那日挟剑惊风，想那日横槊凌云。 ——夏完淳

Think to the day I tied back my hair and enlisted. Think to the day the horn rang at the frostbitten tents, think to the day I danced my sword making the sound that deafens the wind. Think to the day I took to the lance, and it pierced through the skies, rising higher than the clouds. — Xia Wanchun

将士百战身名裂。 向河梁、回头万里，故人长绝。 易水萧萧西风冷，满座衣冠似雪，正壮士、悲歌未彻。 ——辛弃疾

The warrior fights a hundred battles, yet what remains is his severed reputation. He looks to the bridge over the river, thousands of miles back, past acquaintances forever gone. In another life, over the howling of the west wind and the cold Yi rivers, the banquet sits, clothes adorned in snowlike white. The courageous man strides through the blizzard, the song of lament never ceasing. — Xin Qiji

零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故。 ——陆游

The plum blossoms wither and drift to the ground, crushed into earthly soil and dust. The prevailing fragrance is what remains. — Lu You

亦余心之所善兮，虽九死其犹未悔。 ——屈原

So long as this is what my heart longs for and treasures, though I die nine deaths, my heart does not regret. — Qu Yuan

君臣一梦，今古空名。 ——苏轼

Lords and lieges ebb into nothing but a dream; in the river of time transcending present and past vain titles remain, cast into the void. — Su Shi

无波真古井，有节是秋筠。 ——苏轼

The heart is at peace like the ancient well that does not ripple; the integrity is as the autumn bamboos, steadfast and unfaltering. — Su Shi

舳舻千里，旌旗蔽空，酾酒临江，横槊赋诗。 ——苏轼

The warship moves a thousand miles, ensigns enshrouding the sky. He pours out wine by the riverside, holds out his lance, and writes verses as he speaks. — Su Shi

对一张琴，一壶酒，一溪云。 ——苏轼

Facing but a guqin, a jug of wine, a stream of cloud. — Su Shi

江山如画，是我心言。 ——风起时

The rivers and mountains of the kingdom outstretches before me, as moving as in art: this is my heart’s will. — from the song “Feng Qi Shi”, when the wind blows

战骨碎尽志不休，冰心未改血犹殷。 ——改自《赤血长殷》、王昌龄

Bones completely crushed from the battle, yet aspirations unwavering. The heart has not changed; the blood flows red still. — adapted from the song “Chi Xue Chang Yan”, the noble blood flows red, and poet Wang Changling

袖手妙计权倾变，敛眸笑谈意了然。 ——改自《赤血长殷》

With folded arms, he devises labyrinthine strategies. The sceptre of power sways and shifts. He shrouds his gaze modestly, and in conversations of small smiles, he discerns the intention of men. — adapted from the song “Chi Xue Chang Yan”, the noble blood flows red

萧㬌琰 Xiao Jingyan

潜龙一朝御风翔，长歌挽弓射天狼。 ——《长喑》

The submerged dragon rises one day to ride the winds. Singing high and long; the bow is drawn pointed at the invading Sirius. — from the song “Chang Yin”, the Long Darkness found here

挑灯殿阙思悄然，闻钤行宫寝无眠。 ——改自白居易

Awashed in the raised lamps of the imperial palace, thoughts whisper in grievance. The bell rings at the Jiu’an grounds, and he lies abed sleepless. — adapted from The Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Bai Juyi

驰骋沙场繁华梦，谈笑鸿儒君臣纲。 ——改自《致陛下书》、刘禹锡

Dreams soar in the flurrying gallops of the battlefield, flourishing dreams of splendour and joy. In pleasant dialogue with scholars, civility obliges polite smiles into the etiquette of lords and lieges. — adapted from the song “Zhi Bi Xia Shu”, a letter to Your Majesty, and Liu Yuxi

铁马并辔封疆，几回魂梦游；更鼓落夜未央，笔下兴亡断。 ——取自《长喑》、《赤血长殷》

Armoured horses riding in parallel at the borderlands — how many times has the soul wandered to such dreams of the past. The hourly drums sound ceaseless across the long night; under the emperor's brush, the fate of prosperity and declination writes. — adapted from the song “Chang Yin”, the Long Darkness found here, and “Chi Xue Chang Yan”, the noble blood flows red

揽尽山河只手倾，昂冕袖手瞰苍生。 ——改自《长喑》

The future of his kingdom sweeps into a tilt of his hand. With crown upheld, he folds his arms in his sleeves awatching humanity. — adapted from the song “Chang Yin”, the Long Darkness found here

咫尺抚眉峰，万丈叠远峰；梦底枕笑纹，惊风掀���纹。 ——《致陛下书》

Up close, the furrowed brows are smoothed. Ten thousands of feet stretch before him, converging into mountains at a distance. In the deepest dreams, the markings of a smile lie; he stirs up the wind which marks and rips tides in the tumultuous waters. — adapted from the song “Zhi Bi Xia Shu”, a letter to Your Majesty

Two (three) things to note:

My dying obsession with Su Shi, sorry I can’t help it that perhaps over half of the all the poetry I know is from him;

To be really fair, my favourite description of Mei Changsu is 运筹帷幄之中，决胜千里之外, used in describing Zhang Liang in Si Maqian's Records of the Grand Historian. He orchestrates masterplans in the tent of the army; he determines the victory of the battle from afar, thousands of miles from the front.

As for my favourite depiction of Lin Shu, it is definitely Su Shi’s description of Cao Cao: 舳舻千里，旌旗蔽空，酾酒临江，横槊赋诗。 The warship moves a thousand miles, ensigns enshrouding the sky. He pours out wine by the riverside, holds out his lance, and writes verses as he speaks. Xin Qiji’s verse above just fits the entire story of Mei Changsu so much, it deserves a mention.

I was assembling/making these lines up for something back then and so just listed whatever came to mind (for reasons I know not I kept on listing stuff for MCS, but maybe XJY was the typical good emperor kind of person so wasn't as inspiring coming up with quotes for him).

If there are lines of poetry you find really befitting the two characters, we're more than interested starting a thread here just for that purpose.

[glagger-true]

Kind of a salt post, but does anyone else get the feeling that Roswell is as disliked as he is because he's not easy to objectify? As in, he's not conventionally attractive, horny, simple and overtly obsessed with Dave enough for people to sexualize him and his flaws?

I know this might sound insane, but this is actually a very common pattern in furry media. Take characters like Leo from Echo, Amicus from Adastra, Yan Shu-Chi from Nekojishi, Cooper from Rtf and many others, and you'll see how they just attract a whole flock of fans that are completely okay with not only accepting and ignoring their red flags, but also find ways to see these negative traits as attractive things instead.

I'm not saying these characters are bad or that liking/loving them is bad, mind you. I like all of them too (save for Cooper since I haven't really played Rtf just yet). The reason I like them, however, is because their psychological flaws and troubled personalities are interesting to me, which seems to only be the case for a very small part of their respective fandoms. Most people who like them just find them superficially attractive enough to gloss over their nuanced aspects for the sake of being thristy for them.

When you try appling this to Roswell though, it just doesn't work because his character literally goes against every conventionally attractive stereotype that furries tend to like.

He's short, chubby, wears nerdy clothes, has no overtly masculine traits and looks cute instead, is not horny or sexually inclined, has a sensitive but reserved personality that requires time and dedication to understand.

Roswell requires the reader to actually invest into getting to know him beyond his superficial traits the be understood and liked, which seems to be a turn off for the majority of readers because they would rather pick chars with more appealing external personas.

This is also detrimental to the popular boys from Password. Most notably Dean and Tyson, who are "loved" in droves but most of their fans don't seem to actually bother understanding them as individuals and just sexualize them instead.

[444namesplus]

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[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

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[mistypurplespark]

Chapter 31: First Snow

Chapter 31: First Snow

“Shut up! Che Luofeng! He saved your life!”

Translator(s): Elestrea

Editor(s): juurensha

It was barely half a day into the Autumn Close Festival, and trouble already came. A state of bitter enmity grew between Xiang Shu and Che Luofeng. Chen Xing didn’t expect the news of Tuoba Yan’s arrival in Chi Le Chuan would spread so quickly like this. Perhaps that group of Rouran cavalry went back and reported it right away to Che Luofeng.

Xiang Shu said in a deep voice, “That man has left. In Chi Le Chuan, fighting is forbidden. This has been the rule for over the last 400 years.”

Che Luofeng refused to yield at all, saying in a clear voice, “Xianbei’s Tuoba clan screwed my Rourans’ people and also captured my Rourans’ old and young! It doesn’t matter if he is your friend, Divine Doctor! We cannot live under the same sky! It’s a grave offense!” Speaking so, he prepared to lead the troops to give chase.

But Xiang Shu shouted angrily: “Who dares to kill!”

That sound was like a blossoming thunderstorm, jolting Chen Xing, his ears throbbing with sharp pain, his eyes going dark, and he nearly fainted. Xiang Shu was enraged. The Rouran cavalry members’ hearts immediately felt dread, and simultaneously retreat half a step.

“Che Luofeng,” Xiang Shu coldly said, “if you do take revenge, if you kill Tuoba Yan, you and your tribe need to scram out of the Yin Mountains, and throughout the rest of your life, you may never step into Chi Le Chuan ever again. The Great Chanyu always keeps his word.”

Che Luofeng, who was in a daze, gasped for breath. He was shouting so hard he had nearly sobered up. When Chen Xing was about to open his mouth to ease the tension, Xiang Shu raised his hand, prohibiting him from

speaking, then he swept his eyes across the cavalry, his eyes carrying an imposing aura.

Many years ago, on behalf of the country, Tuoba Yan’s paternal grandfather, Tuoba Shiyijian, along with the rest of Tuoba clan, tried to set up an independent political division in the Northeast, which was later stopped by Fu Jian. Chasing the descendant to take revenge for that at risk of offending the Great Chanyu was clearly not worth it. The cavalry sobered up soon, one after another, they gave Che Luofeng a meaningful look, hinting for him to forget about it.

“Shulü Kong, you... you...” Che Luofeng laughed in anger, then angrily said: “You really think the Rourans are seriously afraid of you!”

“Try me,” Xiang Shu said, “you will leave before sunrise tomorrow morning.”

The number of Rourans in the Ancient Chi Le Covenant almost reached 60,000, and if they were really driven out of the Covenant, it would be no small matter. Many people around the plain heard their quarrel, and they came out one by one and formed a circle. Still, Xiang Shu didn’t stop there, he raised his hand, pointing at the venue, and continued: “This is your choice. I will count to three, and either you raise your soldiers and take your revenge, or you go back and celebrate the festival. Three.”

Che Luofeng ruthlessly threw his weapons down on the ground and using his horse, he galloped out of the crowd. The Hu people busily tried to part, making an exit path for him. A moment later, the Rouran cavalry cleanly and clearly withdrew.

Even though he saw Che Luofeng go north, Chen Xing was still anxious. After the crowd had dispersed, Xiang Shu once again called over a Tiele man and whispered an order that Chen Xing roughly understood. Basically it was to get a group of cavalry to catch up with Tuoba Yan and escort him until he reached the Great Wall to avoid being chased for revenge by Che Luofeng.

Chen Xing breathed a sigh of relief and said: “Thank you.”

However, Xiang Shu didn’t say a word, and with a gloomy face, he turned around and walked away. Chen Xing remained standing in melancholy for a moment, and he suddenly felt that under the lively and flourishing scene of the Autumn Close Festival, there was a sense of emptiness and solitude. He then dragged his heavy legs back to the tent.

Xiang Shu took the lead in returning to the royal tent. When Chen Xing opened the curtain to enter, he saw that the inside was in a complete mess. Clearly, Che Luofeng had come here, taking with him the things he had used during his stay on Xiang Shu’s tent for the past few days. Xiang Shu saw this scene and was obviously infuriated by it.

Chen Xing didn’t comment on it either, just bending down to clean up the mess, saying: “Tuoba Yan is my friend, I’m sorry for troubling you.”

Xiang Shu spoke, “Che Luofeng has always been like this. Wait a few days for him to think it over, and he’ll come asking for your apology.”

Recalling what had happened at today’s venue, Chen Xing said: “I have purchased a horse and tomorrow, I will trade it for some food with your clansmen again and also for a sufficient amount of clothing to defend against the cold. I will immediately set out north.”

Xiang Shu sat down in the tent silently. Chen Xing had come to a realization that Chi Le Chuan, although beautiful, in the end, it was not his hometown. Xiang Shu’s clansmen, although enthusiastic, at the end of the day, they were also not his clansmen. After staying in Chi Le Chuan for a month, he gradually became aware that perhaps, south of the Yangtze River, with its emerald-green terraces and songbirds cries all over the world, was a place he ought to go.

Xiang Shu took a quick glance at Chen Xing, seemingly seeing through to his inner thoughts.

Chen Xing simply tidied up the tent for Xiang Shu and spoke: “I’ve stayed here for too long, and I’m afraid of making more trouble for you. I’ll get lost at once.”

Xiang Shu: “...”

Chen Xing poured himself a cup of milk tea, sat down, considered it, scratched his head, and said: “The matter of being a Protector, just forget about  it  ba.  You’re  the  Great  Chanyu;  you  also  have  your  own responsibilities and can’t always follow me to wander around all over the place. There are many people that need you. This person’s luck has always been very good, so you also don’t need to worry about me.”

Xiang Shu remained silent. Chen Xing examined his medicine bag and put away his dagger. He looked for the map, read through it carefully for a while, and by comparing the parchment copied by Xiang Shu as well as the terrain of the mountains and rivers beyond the Great Wall, he tried to speculate on the location of the gorge and the Great Lake. Based on the map and the direction of the Big Dipper, he had to go all the way north. Maybe, he could even meet the Akeles. He had learnt a little Xiongnu, and when he met them, he could ask for directions. Although the future was bleak, there was still hope.

He couldn’t afford to delay anymore, only wishing to find the legendary Dinghai Pearl before the start of next year’s spring. He wanted to settle the matter that weighed on his mind as soon as possible so he could go back to the South to wait for death.

Later in the evening, cheers could be heard from outside. Chen Xing went out to look, and it was snowing!

“Xiang Shu! It’s snowing.” Chen Xing said as he returned to the tent and pointed outside.

Xiang Shu frowned and observed Chen Xing, looking completely annoyed.

It was snowing heavier and heavier. The first snow after autumn of this year had finally arrived. The north wind wailed, and the feather-like heavy snow engulfed everything in Chi Le Chuan. The bonfire was moved to the center of the tents, and Chen Xing watched it alone for a while from in front of the royal tent before someone came to deliver supper. After a simple meal, Xiang Shu simply gazed at the tent, lost in thought. Chen Xing just drank some  wine,  already  used  to  Xiang  Shu’s  ‘any-living-person-do-not-

approach’ attitude. Soon, as usual, he lay down on his small couch and slept under a thin wool blanket.

“You won’t be able to go now.” Xiang Shu finally said, “The north road is closed during heavy snow. You can only wait until the beginning of spring.”

Chen Xing didn’t hear that. The wind came leaking into the tent, the blanket was thin, and the cold air blew over the night. He felt Xiang Shu covering him up with two more blankets in the middle of the night.

When he woke up early in the morning the next day, the outside was already wrapped in silver, and yesterday’s unhappiness was immediately swept away.

“Oh my god——!” Chen Xing was shocked.

Mountains, lands, and prairies, everything was blanketed by thick snow, it was as if the entire world was sprinkled with glittering, silver-light sugar. The scorching sun was high, and it shone brightly on the sparkling snow. The stream was frozen overnight and was now covered with a thin layer of ice. The early-riser Hus were breaking the ice on the stream so their horses could drink.

Chen Xing sneezed, his nose felt a little stifled, and Xiang Shu was nowhere to be seen.

“So beautiful!” Chen Xing said to himself. Saying so, he quickly washed up, saw the breakfast on the table, ate it, then wrapped himself in a thick fur. Wandering out while struggling through the snow, he saw that Chi Le Chuan had transformed overnight into something akin to a paradise.

“Xiang Shu!” Chen Xing shouted down from the top of the hillside.

Xiang Shu was dressed in a tiger-fur coat that reached his knees, a belt that lined up his well-defined waist, and a fox-tail hat on his head. He was instructing a group of Tieles. At the same time, the Tiele warriors were stowing the tents and supplies, seemingly wanting to leave for some business. Hearing the shout, he looked at Chen Xing, his lips red and his teeth white under the sunshine, making Chen Xing’s heart moved.

Xiang Shu made a gesture, motioning for Chen Xing to wait up there, then turned around and approached him.

“Let’s go skiing?” Xiang Shu said, “We couldn’t play at yesterday’s festival.”

Chen Xing was in a much better mood after waking up; he laughed and said: “Alright.”

He intended to leave tomorrow. Since today was his last day, he had to keep some memories. As a result, Xiang Shu, leading Chen Xing, carried a cavalry shield up to the slope, and with one foot, he stepped on it.

Cheng Xing: “....”

Xiang Shu: “Come up, and hug me tightly from behind.”

Chen Xing: “How do we do this? We’re gonna fall down, ba! Not even a rope?! One wrong step and we’re going to roll all the way down!”

Xiang Shu said impatiently: “Rubbish! Quick!”

The cavalry shield was not big, Chen Xing tried to step on it, but Xiang Shu grabbed his hands and pushed him back, locked his arms in an instant, dragged him onto his back, and pulled him hard so he ended up hugging Xiang Shu tight. Stepping sideways on the shield, woosh, they slid down!

“AAAH——” Chen Xing was taken along by Xiang Shu and immediately dived down from the top of the cliff, his heart almost jumped out of his throat. Xiang Shu stepped on the shield’s tail, leaped out, and took him flying high up in the sky before finally landing safely.

Chen Xing: “...”

Xiang Shu: “Again?”

Chen Xing still had some lingering fears, but he felt extremely excited. The slope was very steep, and it felt like jumping off an overhanging cliff.

“I didn’t even open my eyes...” Chen Xing said.

“Coward,” Xiang Shu ridiculed. He whistled to summon a horse, flipped over and mounted it, taking Chen Xing to a higher and steeper slope. Chen Xing looked down, it was almost three li, and his feet immediately felt a little soft.

“You’re in the front this time.” Xiang Shu said, “Keep your eyes wide open!”

Chen Xing madly shouted: “WAAAAH——”

Given no time for explanations, he was hugged by Xiang Shu, and they slid down. But just before they reached the end, Chen Xing turned his head around and told Xiang Shu: “Xiang Shu, tomorrow, I’ll...”

As soon as he turned his head, the two men’s lips almost met. Xiang Shu’s foot suddenly slipped, Chen Xing’s foot became unsteady, the shield went out of control, and they fell into the snow.

“Hahahaha——”, Chen Xing, with snow covering his whole face, got up and mocked Xiang Shu, “You, a moment ago, did you just blush?!”

Xiang Shu got up quickly with anger mottling his face, saying: “What are you doing?!”

Chen Xing hurriedly waved his hand to apologize, assuming that Xiang Shu, this sort of man, unexpectedly became very embarrassed when he was so close to other people that he even blushed! The other day, when he was almost kissed by Che Luofeng, Xiang Shu’s reaction had been even more intense than this.

Chen Xing picked up the shield, then said: “One more time?”

Xiang Shu took the shield. As they walked over towards the horse, Che Luofeng came from one side. He stood alone in the open ground and looked at the two men from afar.

Xiang Shu motioned to Chen Xing, as if saying “See? What did I tell you ba?”

Che Luofeng: “Snowball fight?”

Xiang Shu measured Che Luofeng carefully, then asked: “Sobered up?” “Yes! Yes!” Che Luofeng waved his hand, then suddenly laughed again.

Xiang Shu put Chen Xing on the horse, sat behind him while carrying the shield on his back, then put his hands around Chen Xing’s waist. He shook the reins, went up the hill, and took a few steps before looking back.

Only then did Che Luofeng come over and followed him, albeit bitterly. The Tieles, Rourans, and Xiongnus, who had been heavily drunk last night, had also sobered up. With each of them bringing their own shield, they went uphill and followed the Great Chanyu to make up for the ski fights they couldn’t do at the Autumn Close Festival. Thousands of people slid down from the hilltop down to the cliff; it was a magnificent sight. Xiang Shu held Chen Xing, and they slid down ahead. Che Luofeng soon caught up from behind them.

“Che Luofeng!” Chen Xing tried to turn his head, but Xiang Shu grasped his head and forcefully turned it back, saying: “Look ahead!”

From start to finish, Che Luofeng never replied, and they slid again several more times. Soon, more and more people, men and women, arrived. All the people started to have snowball fights at the foot of the hill, shouting and yelling; it was extremely lively.

Chen Xing was hit by Che Luofeng’s snowballs several times in a row and immediately sensed his hostility. When he looked at Che Luofeng, Che Luofeng smiled back provocatively, his meaning quite clear: ‘You have snatched my Anda.’

“I will go back first!” Chen Xing felt unpleasant to say anything, so he said to Xiang Shu: “You guys play!”

Xiang Shu also sensed the hostility. He held a snowball in his hand, weighing it. Chen Xing turned around and left. Xiang Shu glanced at Chen Xing, then looked at Che Luofeng, faintly smiling. Che Luofeng quickly assumed a fighting stance under the sunshine, and facing Xiang Shu, he smiled, like a big boy who lived a carefree life.

But Xiang Shu threw the snowball to the ground, turned around, then walked away.

Cheng Xing returned to the royal tent with his brain spinning with dizziness. He realized he must’ve caught a cold last night, so he ground a medicine pill and drank it down with boiled hot water, before laying down on the couch to rest.

Not long after, Xiang Shu came, bringing over a bowl and sweets cooked by the Tieles. It was a tradition on the first day of snow to drink a black ginger dark-brown sugar drink and stewed rice cakes. He frowned, asking: “Is the air chilly?”

“En...” Chen Xing smelled ginger. Knowing it was a kind of food that repelled cold, he got up with much difficulty to drink it, “Just sweating a bit.”

Xiang Shu said: “Even a doctor still gets sick.”

Chen Xing: “It’s normal if a doctor gets sick, I am not you, even all kinds of poisons dare not to invade your body.”

Xiang Shu sat in the tent and once again taunted him: “Are you still an exorcist? How about the Heart Lamp?"

Chen Xing helplessly said: “The Heart Lamp is merely made of mana; it doesn’t have the ability to protect one’s body and grant immortality. In fact, it’s precisely because of the use of the Heart Lamp’s mana that my body has been weakened. I also want to be as good as you guys, OK? The Han’s military power is not weak.”

‘The Han’s military power is not weak’, this point was indeed not wrong. Even after hundreds of years, all of the Hus outside the border were still very afraid of the formidable army, just like the time when the Wu Emperor was still in power. Chen Xing meant that his constitution was no good, but you shouldn’t generalize from that that all of the Hans were no good as well. Moreover, ever since his childhood, because of the Heart Lamp, he tended to cast magic, which must have somewhat taken a toll on his spirit and physique. He was basically a waste, a trash fish.

Chen Xing spoke incoherently, trying to explain in several sentences, then lay down on his stomach again to sleep, sweating, thinking: Tomorrow should be alright.

Xiang Shu didn’t leave. He got up very early that day, so he decided to mind his own business and lie down to sleep. In the evening, the sky was dusky, the wind was biting cold, and there was a blizzard.

Che Luofeng braved the snow to come, saying outside the tent: “Anda, come and let’s talk.”

Xiang Shu glanced at Chen Xing, got up and went out, afraid of waking him up.

Chen Xing who had been sleeping, without knowing why, suddenly woke up. Perhaps it was the heavens that wanted him to hear this conversation. Moreover, his consciousness was bright and clear. Che Luofeng spoke in Rouran, but Chen Xing had been living in Chi Le Chuan for some time and had studied a little bit, so from the tone of his voice, he could more or less guess that Che Luofeng was a little dissatisfied with him.

“If you want to talk, let’s go outside,” Xiang Shu turned to leave, “or, do you want to fight?”

“This is my own home, yet to talk, I have to hide from that Han man?!” Che Luofeng said.

Xiang Shu: “...”

Xiang Shu’s eyes began showing obvious anger. Che Luofeng continued: “Anda, just how much provocation did you hear from that Han?!”

Xiang Shu angrily said: “Shut up! Che Luofeng! He saved your life!”

Che Luofeng snarled: “Blackmailing me with my ‘life’? Can I return this ‘life’ back to him?” As he said that, he pulled out a dagger, gesturing at his stomach, and shouted: “Get him to scram out of Chi Le Chuan for me!”

Chen Xing inside the tent immediately stood up, thinking that he must go out now and say something, else he, this outsider, would truly incite disharmony between Xiang Shu and Che Luofeng, and he had no interest in doing so.

Xiang Shu was just about to step forward to seize the dagger in Che Luofeng’s hand when he suddenly stopped.

Amidst the violent snowstorm, several Tiele cavalrymen were showing the way for a Hu person, entering the valley.

“The Akele’s messenger wishes to see the Great Chanyu——!” shouted the leader.

Chen Xing immediately pulled open the curtain, coming out from inside the royal tent, looking for Xiang Shu.

“Go in,” Xiang Shu said, “you’re still sick.”

Che Luofeng’s complexion was clearly not good, Xiang Shu saw that Chen Xing had woken up, then motioned everyone to come in.

Translator's Comment:

So happy there are a lot of readers drawing/writing Dinghai stuffs these days!

Lycieratia and Asami from Discord drew some cute sketches of ShuXing!

There’s also a Dinghai Gaming AU fanfic by namio that you can check here! The characters have yet to appear but don’t worry, the only thing you need to know is that THEY ARE A PERFECT COUPLE! It’s spoiler-free too so feel free to check it out!

A post-cannon fic of ShuXing written by Yukinia from AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21702076

[aru-and-leopard-cat]

happy birthday, i hope you get to spend it with your husband

Thank you!! I hope you have a wonderful day today! And yes! Shu-Chi is always by my side 🖤

[nocturneneko]

Dai now has color!

[tananansad]

"genuinely curious how this works, can you explain this to me?"

@doublecast-bayoen asked on Twitter but I wasn't gonna bombard him with a thread in replies so I'll answer it here instead!

But first, a quick cultural lesson on the Malayosphere: the non-pidginized Malay languages tend to have subtle registers (they're not as prominent as other languages in the region such as Javanese or Balinese) which shows itself mainly through pronouns. A good amount of pronouns are still common while others are pretty much obsolete beyond certain circumstances (i.e. a royal ceremony). I should also probably add that my HC would mainly resonate with Malayophones from Malaysia and Singapore ^w^

Now that's out of the way; the pronouns are formatted in the manner of their equivalents to I/you (singular) in English. Let's start with Mr. Tiger.

Linhu

In my headcanon (and in my snail-paced one-man translation project of Nekojishi), Linhu invariably uses aku/kau. This set can be used when you're talking to someone of equal (e.g. friends) or inferior (e.g. your employee) status. And since he is is pretty much superior to all of our main cast (cf. Liao his "child", Leopard Cat the yaoguai and Likulau the spirit), there's no reason for him to use anything else around them.

One exception is if he had lines where he explicitly talks to Goddess Mazu, (which he doesn't but) in which case he would use a deferent patik/tuanku common in royal speech, assuming traditional Chinese religion puts an emphasis on higher deities being akin to divine royalty. Next, let's talk about best boy...

Likulau

(do not @ me over this.) Like Linhu, Likulau invariably sticks to one set of first- and second-person singular pronouns, but this time, it's mainly because the way he uses Mandarin in the OG script implies he is an non-native speaker. His use of saya/kamu would remind a native speaker of the language you'd usually find in a beginner's textbook. To me, the use of kamu tries to avoid implying any level of social rank and intimacy (kau implies the speaker's superiority and awak implies intimacy, not really a visual thing for the stoic leopard), perfect for Likulau's way of speech!

Isn't he the cutest?!

We now move on to a slightly more complex case...

The Protag

[Artistic depiction of furry Liao from here!]

Unfortunately for Liao, he's pretty much just a college kid who got entangled in the midst of divine business. As someone who was pretty much a nobody up to the start of the novel, he mainly uses a more respectful but friendly saya/awak with the other cats. However, he has his moments of lamentation where he would use the more casual aku/kau. Oh, and he also refers to himself as aku or more precisely, ku in his monologues, reflecting the pronoun used in first-person POVs in line with the traditions of Malay fictional literature. :3

Last but not least...

Yan Shu-chi

(I have conflicted feelings about this creature.)

Shu-chi's middle position socially within the quartet (being spiritually lower than Guardian Tiger but above Liao academically) and his frank expressions lends to him having to freely choose between aku/kau and saya/awak. While his outgoing nature in the story dictates that he mostly uses the former, I can imagine him teasing Liao with the latter.

What a sly being.

And that's pretty much it!

nekojishi malay pronouns hc

is this fandom even alive anymore

[duskneko]

[superanthroexchange]

2 character soft shaded halfbody commission for arulovesshu_chi on twitter! My commission info Patreon

[iamblz-tblr]

it him again

(probably tired from me drawing him so many days in succession)