nolinespring

[nolinespring]

These are the apps and links I currently have on my phone to study Chinese:

SuperChinese: my main study resource. There are currently 7 levels, level 7 (still incomplete, they are still slowly adding lessons to it) being HSK 5 stuff. Each lesson has vocabulary, grammar and a short dialogue where those are used in context (I love context). It has a few free lessons in the lower levels but after that you have to buy a subscription. There are many sales though. When I was a beginner I used HelloChinese instead, which has more free content, and switched to SuperChinese when I finished all the free content there. It also has social network features and chat rooms I don't use.

TofuLearn is like a flashcard app with many pre-made decks (you can also create your own on their website and import decks from Anki) and the option to practice writing hanzi. Anki didn't work for me, but I find Tofu very helpful. Practicing writing helps me with character recognition, and it also helps me remember the tones thanks to the audio in the pre-made HSK decks.

Dot is a reading app with new texts being added every day. It used to be completely free, which actually seemed too good to be true, and then they put practically everything behind a paywall and very strict limits for free users. After a couple of months they made it a little less restricted though - we still can't choose the articles but we can read as many as we want as long as we do the vocabulary exercises after each article (plus, during the Spring Festival, they made all articles available for free for 3 days and we could save the ones we were interested in to read later). It follows the new, not-yet-implemented (and harder) HSK levels, so you should start one or two levels below yours and if the texts are too easy move up.

Google Translator: not the best but helpful when I need to translate whole sentences, plus I can point my camera or open an image and it translates writing.

Pleco: best Chinese to English dictionary.

Stroke Order: not an app but a website, does what it says in the tin: shows stroke order for a specific character.

YouGlish: also a website, you can put a word or phrase and it shows videos where people say that word/phrase. Very cool.

Todaii is a graded news app that has only two levels: easy and hard. I'm around level HSK4 and the "easy" level is quite hard though (but I admit reading is my nemesis).

I also use YouTube and Spotify a lot.

[nolinespring]

i already watched three episode and my first impression, it's a good show. not amazingly made but it's a well made one. interesting cases. hilarious humor. interesting trio! and, a neat fighting scene. of course, there are a lot of things that need further explanation, why jianyuan sect want to defeat li xiangyi, or where's the corps of shen gudao, and well, a lot of things. I refused to believe that it's just as simple as I-envy-your-enourmous-power type of story.

also, fang duobing is a dummy. li lianhua or xiangyi, is remind me of xiao chuhe or xiao se from the blood of youth. they have similar characters but lianhua is more approachable than xiao se 😆 well because basically xiao se is the crown prince 🤣

[nolinespring]

刘亦菲 liu yifei

[nolinespring]

chinese guzheng (cover: jiangnan江南 by JJ Lin)

[nolinespring]

The discourse on twitter of the past couple of days has demonstrated just how little people (in the West, at least) know about how horrific the Imperial Japanese Army was. They know nothing of things like human experimentation at Unit 731, the Rape of Nanking in China, biological warfare against Chinese civilians, the Manila Massacre in the Philippines, the Sook Ching massacre in Singapore, torturing and even cannibalizing some Allied prisoners of war, the fact that the IJA’s atrocities started before WWII and that something like the Second Sino-Japanese War even happened, in general the killing of millions of Chinese civilians under their colonial operation (the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), the kidnapping and sexual slavery of “comfort” women across the Pacific…Like there’s this weird rewriting of history on twitter like Japan was a victim in WWII, but while Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were, the Imperial Japanese Army was decidedly not! There’s a reason why Article 9 of Japan’s post-WWII constitution essentially bans them from declaring war and having any real military of their own (seriously, go read the text of the article, it’s wild). Their policy, endorsed by Hirohito, was literally the 3-all’s: “kill all, burn all, loot all.”

People can be against nuclear weapons and anti-Japanese racism without, you know, whitewashing an imperial empire that terrorized the Pacific and murdered millions.

[nolinespring]

seventeen follow concert is so fun, it's been a long time since I having fun like this, even though I only watch the online concert but i feel so happy, like all the serotonin is coming out and I just being giggly through out the concert. I sing along with all songs, jumping, laughing, screaming, giggling. thank you so much seventeen for the moment and temporal festival. and, I hope seungkwan is recovering well so he will be back with us again. I miss seeing him on stage. love you seventeen 🫶

[nolinespring]

i once break down lika this and all I got is yelled. Since then i never break down in front someone else.

. ˚ as long as you're okay

requested by anon: "do you think you could do a cheol or dino version of the comforting seungkwan fic you did ? it was such a nice read"

pairing: dino x gn!reader

genre: fluff, hurt/comfort, established relationship

word count: 2148

warnings: curse words, pet names (love, baby), descriptions of a breakdown

summary: it's the day of exam results release, and you're beginning to have doubts. but luckily, your boyfriend is there for you and more than ready to reassure you.

"I'm fucked. I'm actually so, so fucked. I can't remember any of the paper, can't remember how any of it went, can't remember what even happened in that exam hall! I think I did a Wonwoo and blacked out during the exam. This is terrible. I'm so fucked."

You're standing there wringing your hands in the dining room, while Chan is trying to peacefully eat his lunch. Unsuccessfully, really, given that you're complaining, incredibly loudly, because you're going to have to leave the apartment soon to go and pick up your exam results. And you kind of really, really don't want to. 

Chan looks up from his food, eyeing you as you shake your fists some more, friendship bracelets on your wrists rattling together. 

"How come you’re wearing all the bracelets the other hyungs made for you and not the ones I did?" is all he says, squinting down suspiciously at a piece of lettuce in his salad. 

"What?" You look down at your wrists, where Soonyoung's bright orange beaded bracelet is next to the pastel creation that Jeonghan made you, along with the multiple from Seokmin and Joshua. You shake your head. "That’s because you never made me any! Chan, are you even listening to me?"

Chan just looks you right in the eye as he stuffs the leaf into his mouth. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

That makes you whine, stomping your feet a little petulantly. You look like a child having a tantrum, but it's all to cover up the fact that you are genuinely incredibly nervous. 

"What if I failed?" you fret. "Chan, what if I failed really badly?"

"Then, we’ll just have to accept it," he says simply. He pushes away his wilting salad, unwilling to eat it anymore and unable to eat because of your distractions. "All you can do is your best, and if that's what happened when you tried your best, then there's nothing you can do."

You pout, crossing your arms. “You really are no help.”

There's a pause, and he looks at you, your stiff frame and trembling shoulders and he just sighs sympathetically, standing up from the chair and wrapping you in his arms. You stand stiffly, unwilling to yield, mildly upset at him for his horrible advice. He rocks you from side to side anyway, unfazed, cradling the back of your head. 

"My lovely Y/N," he says softly. "I really don't know what else to say. If you fail, then that's okay. I'll support you. I'll help you. And if you did well, which I'm sure you did, then that's wonderful. I'll support you then too."

He pulls away slightly so he can look at you, nudging his nose against yours. He's looking at you intently, even as you try to keep the mild disappointment in your gaze as you look back. Sighing again, he shakes his head, leaning forward so your foreheads are touching. 

"You're going to do fine. Absolutely brilliantly. You know how Wonwoo hyung is: the tests he remembers the least are the ones he did the best in."

That makes you smile a little, finally getting the encouragement you wanted. 

"See, that's all you had to say," you say, leaning in to hug him fully, and his arms are wrapped around you once more and his hand has protectively come up to the back of your head, cradling you gently. 

Chan chuckles, pulling away to look at you. "Really? Was that it?"

You hum, nodding. "Mhm. What can I say, I'm a simple person."

He laughs properly at that, pulling away and kissing you on the top of your hair. "Perhaps. But you better go now, if you want to go get your results. You're going to be late otherwise."

Your eyes widen as you look at the time. "Oh my god, you're right." You lean forwards to peck Chan quickly on the lips before rushing into the hallway. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to open them before I get home though!" you call out, and Chan wanders into the hall to smile as you tug on your shoes. 

“You better not. I wanna scream over your results with you.” He grins. “Your results which are going to be great and will show you passed with flying colours, of course.”

You laugh, and the sound is high-pitched and a little wobbly with nerves, but at least you’re able to laugh. “We can only hope.”

Chan leans in and gives you another tight hug once again, and smiles at you so sweetly and lovingly that it's actually a little overwhelming. "Good luck, love. I know you'll do well."

Opening the door, you smile back at him, giving a small wave. "Thank you, babe."

And then the door closes, and you're gone. Chan stares at the door for another moment, before retreating down the hallway again and going back to his wilted lunch.

————————————— 📄

There’s a clattering sound of you getting out your keys and unlocking the door, and Chan looks up from where he's on his phone on the sofa. He's been waiting for you, because duh, of course he has, and he gets up and walks out to greet you, but the smile dies from his face when he sees your expression.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?”

You’re clutching the envelope that holds your certificate with your results on it, and it’s clear you’re trying not to hold it so hard that the paper wrinkles, but your shoulders are shaking and you look… well, you look terrified.

“Y/N?” he asks, tone infinitely more concerned. “Here, let’s take your shoes off, love.” He bends down, untying your shoelaces for you, praising you almost without thinking when you take them off. Then he stands back up, sees your face again, and his eyes widen.

“Chan…”

“You’re crying.” He blinks, eyes widening even further when the tears well faster in your eyes, spilling over. “Hey, love, why are we crying?”

You can’t answer, bringing a hand to your face, trying to stem the tears before they dissolve into sobs, and he’s stepping forwards again, hugging you to him, arms around you. You’re still holding onto the envelope, still making sure not to crinkle it, but right now Chan couldn’t care less about a piece of paper when you’re here, crying, in his arms.

It takes a little manoeuvring, but he takes off your coat and, still with his arms around you, leads you into the living room, collapsing onto the sofa with you in his lap.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, even though he thinks he might know. He rubs your back, soothing, as you cry quietly into the fabric of his shirt, the envelope abandoned on the coffee table. “Why are you crying, love?”

You take a deep breath, attempting to speak, before getting choked by a sob and burying your head further into his shoulder. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Chan murmurs, and you make a small, broken sound that makes his heart clench. “I’m here, it’s okay, you’re okay. You’re okay, love, everything is okay.”

“N—No,” you manage to stutter out, wet and helpless, “it’s not. Everything is—is not okay.”

He makes a sad noise at that, one hand still rubbing big, slow circles on your back, the other cradling the back of your head and hugging you close. “Why do you think that?” he asks gently. “What’s making you feel that way?”

“E—everyone,” you sob, and begin to cry even harder into him, your entire frame shuddering, and you sound so devastated that Chan just wants to make all of your pain disappear immediately. “Everyone is m—making me feel like things are not okay.”

“Even me?”

You can’t answer, dissolving into tears yet again.

He takes a breath, his own breathing a little shaky. He hates hearing you cry, hates seeing you so upset, and right now he’s fighting back his own tears, wanting to make you feel better instead of just sobbing with you. “Don’t listen to them, baby,” he says, resting his cheek against the top of your head. “You haven’t even looked at the results yet, how can you trust what they’re saying?”

“There were others and—and they opened theirs right there, a—and I don’t think I did—I don’t think I did as well as them,” you say, and now the crying is getting worse, your breaths coming out all quick and panicky, and you’re shuddering so hard that it’s like you're going to break in two.

“Hey, hey. Y/N, look at me. Come on, love, look at me.” Chan tilts your chin upwards, hand cradling your cheek, and your face is wet with tears but he just stares you straight in the eyes, ignoring the way his own vision is blurring. “Do these people—no, baby, look at me, please—do these people really matter to you?”

You hiccup a sob, blinking your eyes rapidly, and he still has one hand on your back, the other gently wiping your own tears.

“Are these people really that important to you? Do you care about them so much that what they do is crucial to you?”

You jerkily shake your head. “N—no.”

“And,” he carries on, “Do they care about you this much too? Do they genuinely care about how well you did?”

You shake your head again.

“Exactly.” Chan smiles softly. “Their opinions are worthless. How well they did is worthless. For me, and for you, the only important thing is how well you did in comparison to yourself.”

“T—That—” You breathe in shakily again, tears falling faster— “That doesn’t even make sense.”

He can’t help but laugh, just a little, even as your face crumples as you cry even more, curling up even smaller in his lap, burying your head back into his shoulder once more. 

“Don’t worry about how other people did,” he says, wrapping his arms more securely around you, keeping you cocooned in his embrace. “You did your best, Y/N, and I can personally vouch for that. I mean, how many days were I deprived of kisses because you were too busy studying? How much did I sacrifice so that you could revise without interruption?”

You chuckle, watery and a little deranged, sounding like you’re hanging on by a thread, and he just hugs you tighter.

“You have done,” Chan begins, “so so well already. I know it. I’ve seen it. This piece of paper? This just tells you what you already know. It’s going to tell you what I’ve already told you, and that’s it. Don’t base your worth on this, because you are so much more than a number and a grade.”

That causes another sad noise to be pulled out of you, touched beyond belief, but Chan doesn’t say anything else, burying his face into your hair, blinking away his own tears as he holds you through your own.

Several minutes pass, just like that, and he whispers soothing, nonsensical noises, arms tight around you, thumbs rubbing soft patterns into your skin. It takes a while, a long while, for you to eventually calm down, but he just holds you through it all, murmuring that it’s okay and that you’re okay and that he loves you, loves you so, so much.

You’re still breathing shakily, but they’re big, shuddering breaths now, and you sound calmer, resting against his chest, head tucked under his chin.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, gentle.

“Hmm. ‘m sorry.”

Chan blinks, hands pausing in their movements. “Sorry for what, love?”

“For… I don’t know. For breaking down like this, I guess.” You rub your nose, and it’s evident that you’re a little embarrassed for just crying like that, and Chan thinks his heart dips a little at that thought.

“No, gosh, there’s no need to apologise at all! It’s okay. I’m here to help you, aren’t I? It’s one of the things I’m meant to do, baby. I just want you to feel better.” He pauses. “You do feel better, right?” he checks.

You laugh a little, quiet and watery. “Yeah, I do. I feel better.”

He hums happily, hugging you tighter. “That’s good.”

There’s a beat.

“Do you wanna look at your results now?” he asks, looking down at you. You shake your head, eyes fixed on some random point on his shoulder, still blinking away the remnants of tears. “That’s okay.”

Fondly, Chan brings up a hand to your face, wiping away your tears with his thumb, before leaning in to press a light kiss to your cheek. Your cheeks are still wet, a little sticky, but he doesn’t care. The shoulder of his shirt is also in a similar state, anyway. It doesn’t really matter.

He rests his chin on your head again, rocking you from side to side affectionately, humming a tuneless melody, rubbing your arm comfortingly.

“As long as you’re okay.”

fics tags: @jeonginssa @weird-bookworm @minhui896 @bunnyiix @slytherinshua @haowrld @belladaises @moonlitskiiies @mirxzii @zozojella @kawennote09 @thedensworld @a-wandering-stay @abibliolife @doublasting @wonranghaeee @icyminghao @sweet-like-caramel @your-yxnnie @evasaysstuff @odxrilove @kyeomyun @crackedpumpkin @jeonride @kellesvt

[nolinespring]

deputy commander arrested

[nolinespring]

the urge to pull lee chan into a kiss is very concerning

[nolinespring]

I’ve seen a few ~aesthetic~ photos of rock stacks in rivers recently and this is just a reminder that you are destroying habitat when you move rocks around in rivers and streams.

In addition to dragonfly nymphs, rocky river beds are home to lots of other larval invertebrates like damselflies, mayflies, water beetles, caddisflies, stoneflies, and a bunch of dipterans. Not to mention lots of fish and amphibians!

Plus large scale rock stacking can change the flow of a stream and lead to increased erosion.

Anyway dragonfly for admiration:

Calico pennant by nbdragonflyguy

[nolinespring]

I’ve seen a few ~aesthetic~ photos of rock stacks in rivers recently and this is just a reminder that you are destroying habitat when you move rocks around in rivers and streams.

In addition to dragonfly nymphs, rocky river beds are home to lots of other larval invertebrates like damselflies, mayflies, water beetles, caddisflies, stoneflies, and a bunch of dipterans. Not to mention lots of fish and amphibians!

Plus large scale rock stacking can change the flow of a stream and lead to increased erosion.

Anyway dragonfly for admiration:

Calico pennant by nbdragonflyguy

[nolinespring]

18th century ottoman and indian daggers with sheaths

[nolinespring]

sometimes, I miss his breath around my neck. sometimes, I freaked out at the feeling of his fingers on my wrist that still linger after season moving forward. time doesn't wait for his smell to disappear from my room. sun and moon staring at me. sigh, I wish he never come. only for created million needles in my lung. it's suffocating. he isn't here. but I always wish he hold me closer, tighter, and staying. and I crumble again.

[nolinespring]

date someone who is interested in you. i don’t mean someone who thinks you’re cute or funny. i mean someone who wants to know every insignificant detail about you. someone who wants to read every word you write. someone who wants to hear every note of your favourite song, or watch every scene of your favourite movie. someone who wants to find every scar on your body, and learn where they came from. someone who wants to know your favourite brand of toothpaste, and which quotes resonate deep inside your bones when you hear them. there is a difference between attraction and interest. find the person who wants to learn every aspect of who you are.

[nolinespring]

i once heard a saying that a crown come with its weight. by the time i heard this, I realized that my whole life, is always been like that. the older I get, the more I realized, I once got hurt badly because of that crown. yet, that crown stay there even though I already trying to took that off. forcefully. I never like being a center of attention since elementary school. but when I started college, somehow, accidentally, force by situation, I always got the attention that I didn't want. I know, people realized my capabilities. that's exactly why I tried to be as lowkey as possible. I hate being overestimated. I'm trying to accept the capability that God gave to me.

I'm grateful of course. my life always get easier than most people because of that thing. but sometimes, it's like never ending marathon. it's tiring. and it's like I can't failed. I can't disappointed anyone. I can't frown to anyone. I can live on my own because of that crown. but sometimes, I do, need someone to just listen to me. to just accepted all my rant. I just need that one thing. I already know what to do. I just need someone who can see me without expecting me to be dazzling or extremely capable in many things. I do want to be fragile in front of someone.

I don't know if I just being overly dramatic but that's just thought that flashed through my mind before I go to bed. you know, my life is great though. good night everyone, have a tight sleep.

[nolinespring]

[nolinespring]

𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵