#Wine Analysis

[haitang-blossoms]

On Differential Methods, Politics, & Intimacy for Early Novel!Cezhou (haitang-blossoms' Qiang Jin Jiu meta)

Note: This analysis goes up to Chapter 42 which is where I had read up to before Lianyin's fantranslation was taken down due to official English licensing by Seven Seas. This is also the source of my quoted screenshots of the novel.

The way both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye weaponise perceived incompetence (through fabricated images of "grateful helplessness" and "devil-may-care hedonism" respectively) is so compelling and really serves to flesh out the realities of the environment they are forced to navigate.

It is a recurring narrative motif that both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye are "beasts" trapped and restrained by the political system of Qudu. However, the difference in social position and status between them is key to why they choose the masks that they do.

Shen Zechuan, both as a by-proxy-traitor to the nation and as the son of a dancer, has always had to keep his head down and not act beyond his station. Thus, it is perfectly natural that he operates within this expected framework: both to survive in the hostile political landscape as well as to conceal his own intentions and moves within the shadows.

Xiao Chiye, on the other hand, was born into relative power. While the Xiao Clan of Libei was never in the favour of the Empress Dowager, they are nonetheless a reputable cavalry with a hereditary title. Xiao Chiye, as the second son, has both less direct political influence as well as responsibility than his father (the prince) or his elder brother (the next-in-line). This is how he is so easily made a "bargaining chip" and assigned to what seems to be a hopelessly dead-end job in order to keep a metaphorical "leash" on any rebellious intent that Libei may harbour. Given his wealth and inevitable position of being constantly in the public eye, the easiest way to cover up the target on Xiao Chiye's back is to present himself as a frivolous hedonist who is too busy chasing after liquor and bed-partners to pose a real threat to the established power dynamics of the capital.

The difference between their methods can also be observed in the way that their preferences are perceived by others:

Xiao Chiye presents himself as genial: he loves to drink, he is sociable enough to go out with friends frequently etc. However, as seen in the quote above, Xiao Chiye's "friendliness" is actually quite distant in that even the people who think they know him well are unaware of his true preferences. Yet he conducts himself in such a manner that they would not even think to ponder such things. It is a very effective approach for gathering intel: make the other party assume you are giving away much more about yourself than you are, opening the door for them to carelessly overshare from a sense of fabricated comradery.

Shen Zechuan is the opposite: going along with how he is forced to constantly humble himself and downplay his abilities, his preferences have to be presented as equally accommodating to the will of others. There are many instances where he seemingly goes along with others, secretly gritting his teeth the whole way, in order to "soften" them up to be played into his hand later.

And this goes into my next point:

Even though Shen Zechuan has an image of seductiveness, his entire method revolves around NOT having openly expressed desires because that would only serve as a vulnerability. Xiao Chiye, by contrast, predicates his mask around devil-may-care hedonism.

In this way, desire is both much more familiar to Xiao Chiye as well as easier to integrate into his established reputation than for Shen Zechuan. 

This is key to why Xiao Chiye is the first to accept his feelings and why he is much more comfortable with unabashedly expressing them. Thus, I think the differences in how Cezhou present themselves and the contrasting methods they use to stay ahead in their environment have bearing not only on the political games of their world but also on their relationship and how they relate themselves to each other.

[ilikedetectives]

Minthara is honorary Southeast Asian Auntie in my eyes

Shortest one in the group and always stands on boxes/stairs for better view

The way she roasts people by simply stating her observations in a deadpan manner

Will protect if outsiders bully you, but that doesn't mean her roasts end though

Calls people names in her mother's tongue so they don't understand

Will do and say everything else under the sun to show that she loves you, except saying "I love you" (because she was never taught such phrase growing up)

Bothered by the sun, checks a few times a day for blemishes

Complains food outside of home is bland (probably along the line of "This soup is so bland I can wash the bowls with it.")

Insults others by comparing them to dogs

Stands like an immobile log (🧍‍♀️) when hugged, if you're lucky you get an awkward pat on the back

Will happily instigate violence by snitching

Simply does NOT like the little rascals/urchins running around, especially near her

Indirectly, but in a forward way, proposes to someone after first date by asking them to go to her hometown with her

Microdosing partner with purple shrimp paste poison, otherwise they won't survive the trip in her hometown

Will pet and spoil the dog/cat when nobody is looking

Raised by a tiger mom

Has an impeccable garden full of questionable plants

You do NOT want to be on the receiving end of her flying chancla/flip flop

Bonus: loves Ulaver wine (drow green wine: alcoholic beverage fermented with vegetation and fungus of the Underdark). And here's the Vietnamese fermented green mushroom wine (rượu nấm lim xanh)

[gods-favorite-autistic]

I feel like a lot of fantasy high parents are just like yeah in the context of the fact that it’s 1 a comedy show and 2 a dnd suburbia combo a lot of this stuff is normal for who these people and how they raise and interact with their kids but oh my god that is fucked up

[ivyflowers13]

Want some?

[moontide-nymph]

A small drabble from todays stream:

-----------------------

Tubbo looks at the picture in front of him in confusion. This didn't happen, but that's him and Fred? Someone is framing them in a weird way for some reason. Quackity is acting oddly invested, was it him? But why?

"This didn't happen man. I wouldn't pole dance for someone until at LEAST the tenth date, come ON. I'm a eighth impression kind of guy. Also Fred is more of a gentleman than that and wouldn't throw diamonds at my feet. They would try to hand them to me and i'd say no of course because his company is enough, but then he would insist that i take the diamonds and..." His face suddenly lights up. "WAIT is he rich? Not that it matters, just wondering. Im one of the richest on the island... I shouldn't have said that out loud to you but oh well. Wait what if he is though, that would be so- "

"ENOUGH! Man just tell me the truth. What's going on between you two?" Quackity's getting frustrated, what is wrong with this guy? Clearly having feelings for a fed worker? The same feds that tortured him too. Can't he see how bad of an idea it is?

"Well aside from your clearly fake stalker-ish photos, Fred and I are good friends. What's wrong with that?"

Quackity's plan is falling through. "They are USING YOU. They want information Tubbo. What's this?" Quackity rapidly points to the picture of the two of them at the theater.

"Oh we went and saw Wall-e! It was nice.."

"You WOULD fuckin show them the movie with the characters that look like the two of you wouldn't you? Fuckin lame."

"Hey man! It's a good movie! It just happens to have some correlations to us is all. What's this all about huh? Why are you so upset that we are friends? I've barely spoken to you much in weeks. Ive just been working on my massive controversial hole and hanging with friends."

"......everything about you is cursed. What the FUCK hahaha." Quackity's laugh is a bit nervous sounding because again, wtf is wrong with this guy. All he is giving him is a headache. Time to switch tactics. "Would you ever work with the federation?" This is the most important question, if this guy says yes......

Tubbo doesn't even hesitate with his answer. "Of course I would if it meant getting the kids back. Quackity, I would do a LOT of things to get the kids back." Tubbo’s stare is intense, getting the hidden point across. Quackity didn't need to hear anymore. This man is a wild card that needs to be taken care of immediately.

"That's the wrong fuckin answer pal." Quackity turns and starts to run off. He yells back, "you won't ever see Fred again!" He's teleported before tubbo could pull him back to demand to know what he did with Fred.

[bitch-butter]

i've had it: a Web-focused analysis of episode 8

my babes, my babes, what can I say?

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of people saying that in “The Patrol” aka “The Last Patrol” Web is depicted as “trying to get himself taken off the patrol ”. Many long years I have rested, but now i have, in all essences, Had It with that take in light of my recent brush with death (not really, but it adds some gravitas right?).

It's Everybody's right to their own opinion, but I am here to host a Formal Rebuttal of this pervasive interpretation, because I never (even in my pre-webgott days) read That Scene as such, and I feel that this reading makes even Less sense within the full portrait of the episode. I will defend my stance with appropriate screengrabs, but unfortunately due to Max being made singularly of butts and capitalist dupes I am not able to screengrab anything that isn’t already grabbed or put on Youtube. I have much, but not Everything, so bear with me.

(This will not be a litigation of why the episode chooses to detract in myriad ways from the historical record, but suffice it to say that this episode makes a lot of choices re: who was on the patrol, why they were on the patrol, and who showed up when that are not Exactly accurate but does suit the story that they were endeavoring to tell. I’ll leave it at That.)

So, let’s get into it.

I. What is this episode about?

I spoke “briefly” but not that articulately about why episode 8 is my favorite episode on my good friend Sarah’s podcast last year, and I still stand by many of my reasons for doing so, but I’d like to highlight one element in particular. 

This episode is coming hot off of the heels of one of the most harrowing episodes we’ve seen up to this point, “The Breaking Point”, and in that episode we see not only exactly what it has cost our guys to be in the Bois Jacques for so long, but we also see how this has in many ways made their bonds with each other even closer. They leave that conflict feeling tired, overworked and underfed, and incredibly protective of one another, and because we the audience got to see that we in turn feel protective of them as well.

Which is why I find the choice for Web being the main protagonist of the episode so inspired. 

We are thrust immediately from this harrowing experience, as well as the lived-in dynamic with our main guys, into following a guy who disappeared from the show entirely in episode 5, which not only makes us suspicious of him but it runs up against our instincts to bond with our protagonist. We know immediately, even if we’re on a first or second watch, that Web was not in the Bois Jacques because of the visual language used to characterize him as well as his own opening narration, and as such we immediately don’t want anything to do with him because we too feel protective over our guys who were in the actual fight and we don’t want to waste our time with guys who don’t get it. 

Trust and belonging. Those are the core themes of the episode in my opinion, and we see it with several characters (Lt. Jones and Web are in much the same boat because they have no trust and they don’t belong and so they have to earn them both back; Vest is trusted but he doesn’t belong not only because he’s not a guy the audience is that familiar with but because his job in the context of the show removes him from being that close to our core group). The episode is as much about those things as it is also about combat weariness, how our main guys are acclimating to the idea of the end being near, as well as the ultimate brutality and inhumanity of war on a micro level (Web’s ending monologue is a great example of this, and read in conjunction with Sink’s decision to try and send the patrol out again is a pretty good indictment of the depersonalized and mechanic way war works for a lot of people). 

So, in essence, this episode is about getting the other guys, as well as the audience, to trust Web. 

II. Web is a Good Character (you guys are just Mean)

How do you get the audience to trust your character (even if they don’t like him)?

They manage to accomplish this at least in part by trying to show us that even if his plans are lackluster his intentions are good, such as his initial - albeit inappropriate - happiness at greeting everyone, his reveal of who was being initially selected for the patrol, and his successful attempt to get Malarkey taken off the patrol. We see a few times that his actions have consequences, but for the most part we are able to Understand the train of thought that informs the choice. He sees that the other guys are distrustful of him and no longer want him around due to his absence from the previous episodes, something that clearly throws him off balance, and so we can progress through episode 8 with his primary motivation being to get the core group to trust him again and as such regain his sense of belonging.

We see it right away in the episode, where he greets the other guys only to be quickly dismissed and chastised for assuming a familiarity that is no longer there, and again we can infer from Eion Bailey’s performance that he not only understands that he’s made a mistake but is already internalizing that his decision to remain at the hospital was most likely the incorrect decision. 

This goes directly into the motivation for telling his fellow platoon members that some of them have been selected for a patrol that most likely will be disastrous, which we can clearly see he doesn’t want to do but does in order to attempt to gain his footing back within their ranks. 

This isn’t entirely successful, as the other guys seem to read it more as Web being first annoying at not wanting to tell them and then secondly unreliable because he told them in the first place. And again, we can read in Bailey’s performance that he quickly realizes that regaining his standing is not going to be as simple as he thought that it would be. 

His next attempt at ingratiating himself is tied inextricably to the issue at hand. To reiterate, we the audience as well as our characters of interest have become protective over one another in the wake of the previous episode, and one of the characters who comes out of “The Breaking Point” particularly fragile is Malarkey. We have context for his emotional placement that bleeds out from the previous episode, and a lot of visual weight is given to the fact that Malarkey in particular is exhausted, depressed, and would benefit heavily from a brief respite from being on the front lines. Other characters express this sentiment In Webster’s Direction, and in search of another way to endear himself to the rest of the platoon he sets out to kill two birds with one stone by i. Getting Malarkey off the patrol ii. Getting Lt. Jones the experience he needs to hop up the ranks and go away. 

This attempt is successful, but backfires again when Martin is placed in charge of the patrol instead of Jones. It is possible Web should have anticipated that due to the other man’s inexperience they wouldn’t have let him lead it to begin with, but we the audience should ideally still be interpreting at least the initial intention of the decision to be a good one. He sees that the other guys want Malarkey off the patrol, so he gets Malarkey off the patrol.

This brings us to the moment in question.

III. Let’s Break it Down: Part Un

INTERIOR - A ROOM IN lol i’m joking but what if i did do it like that 

It is quickly revealed that Web’s plan has failed, at least in part. Martin has been appointed to lead the patrol, and is clearly no more eager to do it than anybody else is (except Lt. Jones), and Web clearly looks remorseful towards putting him in Malarkey’s place.

In an act of revenge he appoints Web to be translator, and Web is also not that jazzed about it but appears to accept it with a Tiny Little joke. 

The scene progresses to planning the attack, and we get a few visual cues to indicate that this is a no good very bad idea and everybody hates it before the meeting ends and we hear Liebgott make a jab at Web’s attempt at a joke re: his German capabilities, to which Web gives my favorite reaction in the whole episode where he clearly wants to look directly at the camera like he’s on The Office and clowns his way out of the room.

Hard cut to everybody leaving the building, with a few of our guys in the background as Web moves into the foreground away from them (he wants to be with the cool kids but he’s Not one of the cool kids). We hear but don’t entirely see Grant saying the line “Webster. Tries to get out of everything”, but it’s loud enough that we can assume Web himself also hears this, and he has a small moment of looking back at them in response before he advances to address the officers. 

He points out that both he and Liebgott speak German, and we the audience infer that having the two guys who speak German on the same patrol would be a bad idea because both of them could get taken out and then the company would be shit out of luck. Speirs is quick on his feet, and as Liebgott, Grant, and Jackson pass by he stops them and tells Liebgott he can sit this one out. Liebgott accepts, winks at Web, and gives him a joking thanks. 

Web gives him a tiny half-smile, thanks the officers, and walks away, clearly not loving the fact that he’s going but not appearing resentful.

FINIS

That’s the scene of the crime. So, with this narrative context, let’s get to our second suspect.

IV. The Liebgott of it All

In black and white terms, the principal Antagonist to our Protagonist in this episode is Liebgott, even if we can all agree he’s a king and Web is Himself. 

In Web’s intro to the episode he’s the character we see giving him the hardest time about being away from the company, when Web is gearing up to spill the beans about the patrol Liebgott is the one stirring the pot, and in the patrol meeting he’s the one making fun of Web for downplaying his German. Liebgott gets more weight in this episode than he has in any previous episode, and we are meant to extract from their numerous interactions that even if Liebgott is a guy that has been mostly on the fringes throughout the show up to this point he is going to be the one that makes the ultimate decision about whether or not Web will be accepted back into the group. 

We have an automatic trust for Liebgott because we’ve seen and known him from the very first episode, he’s had individual moments sprinkled throughout the show, and narratively we’ve mostly seen him displaying his competency, humor, and principles. These are all things that the audience is missing in a relationship with Web, so like the other guys we’ll trust Liebgott’s assessment of Web more than we’ll likely trust Web’s intentions at face value. This gets tricky, because Liebgott is not immune to his own pettiness, and even if he Was capable of reading Web’s actions in good faith he is still going to have reservations because up to this point we have no reason not to think that Web stayed out of the fight On Purpose. 

So, Liebgott gives Web a ton of shit throughout the episode, and the audience can take that as an indication that Web is not worthy of regaining his place in the group. Web also seems to realize this. If he wants to be back in the mix the person he’s really going to need to impress is Liebgott. As it goes on Liebgott’s exact intentions with Web are a little dubious, because at some points he does seem to internalize that he may be being too harsh or too resistant on Web. After Web gets outed as having told the other guys about the patrol Liebgott appears reserved, not taking pleasure in his embarrassment.

And after hearing Chuck’s pivotal line we can hear Liebgott brush it off with a “whatever” as he clearly looks towards Web in the foreground.

There are things at play in regards to how Liebgott is feeling about his own pettiness towards Web, but whatever reservations he has are not powerful enough up to this point that we take too much notice. 

This, Web’s knowledge of it, as well as the throwaway line from Chuck, all inform the decision to approach the officers after the patrol meeting.  

V. Let’s Break it Down: Part Deux (boogaloo électrique)

What We Know: Web is ostracized from the group and is trying to get back in, Liebgott in particular doesn’t want Web back in the group because he’s missed a formative event for the company and feels he doesn’t deserve it, and there’s a patrol that nobody wants to go on because They’re Tired looming in the distance. 

With what we know (above), what we know happens in the scene (see part III), who these characters are plus their narrative intentionality (parts II and IV), and what the episode is presumably supposed to be about (part I), gives us a pretty clear indication of what Web’s intentions are when he approaches the officers. Web wants to be back in the group, Liebgott is the one he has to convince, and to put a cherry on top he clearly hears Chuck talking smack by saying he tries to get out of everything. 

He prompts the officers by pointing out that Liebgott speaks German as well, and we Must assume he does this with the understanding that there’s no way they would take him off of the patrol over Liebgott. 

Though we’ve seen Web make plans and have them backfire we can’t infer that he’s that stupid just based on what the show has told us about Web thus far. Socially awkward? Yes. Stupid? Not really. 

There would be no way he’d think they would take him off and keep Liebgott on, and he already approaches with the knowledge that if he does earnestly try to remove himself from the patrol that would forever damage his standing in the company and he would never, ever be able to get back in with the core group. You know, that thing that’s motivating everything he does in the episode. 

It wouldn’t make sense in any measure for Web to be going up to them trying to get himself removed. It wouldn’t flow with his actions in the episode, his motivations, Liebgott’s mini-arc of excluding him, and it certainly would not serve the overarching themes of the episode which are Trust and Belonging. 

The perfect button to this conflict is the wink that Liebgott gives Web after being told he can stay behind. There’s a brief moment where he Just looks at Web, and there’s a definite understanding that moves between them that this isn’t the end of the road for Web’s attempts to get back in but that an Important Step has just been taken. 

Web gives him that half-smile, accepts that his work is not done, and they move to their separate corners. 

The culmination of these sort of swirling themes comes during the patrol, when we get a few different moments of Liebgott waiting across the river displaying clear alarm at what he’s seeing. 

Given our context for Liebgott in this episode, and his primary relationship within it being with Web, we can assume this is the moment his feelings about letting Web back into the fold turn. He sees Web took him off the patrol, is now in a precarious position, and as we’ve had a few flashes of his backtracking his own pettiness towards Web we can assume this is the final straw. 

He was fine holding out on Web up to this point, but he doesn’t actually want anything bad to happen to him just because he indirectly influenced Web into proving himself (even if Web was always going to be trying to prove himself). 

So with the completion of the patrol two big things have occurred: Web has weathered a harrowing experience that cost the life of a beloved member of the company and as such got a small, small taste of what the rest of the company experienced in the Bois Jacques, and Liebgott has come to accept that Web’s intentions are good and he can be trusted again.

After this occurrence we see that at least as far as the other guys in the group Web is - for the most part - accepted back. Martin defends him against Cobb, and in that we can assume that the heavy lifting portion of Web's attempts to rejoin Easy have been successful. But the main character that Web, as well as the audience, is interested in is Liebgott. He's presented the greatest barrier to acceptance, and a lot of weight has been placed on he and Web's dynamic in the episode, so we have to wait and see how he will react to Web's newfound acceptance.

That leads them both perfectly to the end of the episode, where our visual cue to this is given: Web approaches the transport, Liebgott offers him his hand, Web takes it. 

Poetic Cinema.

Web has regained trust, and once again he belongs.

VI. I've Had It

I own the fact that I’m feral about this episode and for the most part people don’t seem to like it that much, which is fine and I’m not here to convert anybody. Additionally, I own the fact that Web is my son and I think he’s hilarious and everybody else thinks he’s The Worst. However, I just don’t think that This particular criticism holds much water when we give it the actual reading that we’re meant to be giving it with the weight of the narrative, what we’re being told about individual characters, and the overall themes of the episode. 

The truth is the truth, and we can’t All be champs. 

Lol jk bc truly if you feel as strongly about this as i do (which seems doubtful lol) I am not anti-debate and I would welcome hearing why people seem so Deeply convinced of Web doing all of this just to try and get himself taken off the patrol. 

(Answers I will Not accept are the kind that use Web being annoying as a basis for a read on his character motivations because girls that’s Not It.)

And so it is ~

[bonefall]

I know you're keeping Clear Sky as an antagonist (and he's very compelling as one in your rewrite), but I'm curious: if you absolutely had to give him a redemption arc, how would you go about it? (Besides not fridging his sister and wives, of course.)

If I was forced to give Clear Sky a redemption arc I'd slip a femur right out of my legmeat and beat someone to death with it

I'd never write a redemption arc for him, ever. It would be a completely different character.

Clear Sky's redemption arc is not even an idea worth considering; This an extremely consistent abusive family member who drives the entire plot, a predator who will leverage the love people have for him, whose defining characteristic is that he dresses up his megalomania as "Just Trying to Protect Everyone"

And I'd give that up?! for what?

I'd rewrite the whole plot, JUST like how the writers did with TWO born evil foreigner villains so their story wouldn't get boring, so I could prove the he could be a good boy if he wanted to? WHY?

It's doing the same thing the Erins do, totally uninterested in the story of his victims to write yet another plot centered around the pain of an abusive man.

Elder Bones is disappointed in you if you even think about it, actually. I am holding the femurbone in my hand as we speak. I'm gonna GETCHA

[swallowtail-ageha]

Dont get people who are like "oh this assignment is so boring i'll let chatgpt do it" like wdym that your first to go to write an essay isn't to drink a glass of wine without eating swirling the prompt around for a few minutes and then opening the gates for the brain vomit you're about to spew

[royaltea000]

God I love how ya draw my gal best girl liech she looks so amazing and wonderful thank u and im sorry it took this long to compliment ya for it

(and she doesnt have a canon name but i like elise vogel the most out of the ones hima offered and that make sense)

Oh my gosh thank you so much!! Sorry it took a while to upload cuz I just straight up BURIED her under so many wips 😭 she’s free now 🕊️ and yeah I think Elise Vogel is a good name - it may be fairly new I think? I remember in the old days everyone mostly called her Lilli Zwingli or some variation of that but it makes sense that she would have a different name as they’re not directly related

[troythecatfish]

[dkniade]

“欲买桂花同载酒” / Zhongli’s osmanthus wine idle line

(Disclaimer: I don’t know that much about syntax, so I apologize for the wildly inaccurate syntax trees. I made the mistake of warming up with something that’s not English prose haha… I’ll be focusing on the meaning of the line and its hanzi characters, so the syntax is only there to help me explain some things.)

.

“欲买桂花同载酒”…

.

This line is from the Chinese songci (宋词, a form of traditional Chinese poetry) 《唐多令·芦叶满汀洲》，by 刘过 (Liu Guo). It’s the one referenced in Zhongli’s osmanthus wine idle line in Chinese. (By the way, it does not directly mean “Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember”, but more on that later.)

载 (zai3) as a verb could have the meaning of “to carry (something)(with a vehicle)”. For example, “这车可载三箱酒。” = “This car can carry three crates of wine.”

And since the rest of the songci talks about a harbour scene with boats, 载 could indeed be seen as a verb in the poem’s context, and the vehicle is implied to be a boat. So in the context of the songci, this line could be understood in English prose as “[I] wish to buy some osmanthus and ride [a boat] along with some wine.”

.

However, despite the songci’s context, none of these hanzi characters in the line itself directly mean “boat”. While looking at it closer today, the syntactic structure felt a little strange to me even though I’m not familiar with Chinese songci syntax.

It turns out 载 has multiple meanings. 载, pronounced with the fourth tone (zai4), as a preposition used in pairs (in modern Chinese), could mean “simultaneously” or “at the same time”. For example, 载笑载哭 should probably mean “laughing at crying at the same time” or “laughing while crying”…

Also, the original songci doesn’t follow the osmanthus line with a section about old friends, but instead the idea of old friends is actually mentioned two lines prior. For the bolded sections, I’m doing a modern English translation, referencing the modern Chinese translation from the Gushiwen website here, but note that the original songci uses the poetic Chinese wenyan (文言) syntax.

.

“黄鹤断矶头，故人今在否？旧江山浑是新愁。欲买桂花同载酒，终不似，少年游。”

“故人今在否？” = “Are [my] old friends still alive in this moment?”

“欲买桂花同载酒” = “[I] wish to buy some osmanthus and ride [a boat] along with some wine.”

.

It’s pretty cool that Genshin Impact alluded to the friends idea present in the poem too. Also, both Liu Guo’s songci poem and Zhongli’s line use the term 故人 (gu4ren2) to mean “old friend(s)”.

.

Meaning, Zhongli’s poetic-sounding Chinese idle line “欲买桂花同载酒…只可惜故人，何日再见呢？” is closer to “I wish to buy some osmanthus and also some wine… But as for those old friends, when would I meet them again?” in modern English with the game’s context (without taking into account that the real poem alluded to here is about boating). (This is a rough translation that follows the overall sentence structure in Chinese a little closer.)

Thus Genshin Impact’s English localization of “Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember… But where are those who share the memory?” might actually be okay in terms of meaning even if it lacks the nuance from the poetic reference. Well, I would’ve liked the first part (the songci) to be localized in Shakespearean English, and the second part to be in modern English, since the difference in syntax and tone still stands out a lot in Chinese… In an English localization, if a character who usually speaks in English prose suddenly quotes something in Shakespearean English, it’s easier to pick up on the fact that it might be a line of poetry ‘cause of the contrast, I believe.

.

Somewhat unrelated, but in terms of poetic structure, it seems the entire poem in Chinese has an usually strict rhyming scheme, rhyming nine out of the twelve ending sounds together (roughly speaking. Not gonna go into the phonology of it haha)

Usually Chinese songci have a more diverse (?) rhyming scheme. E.g. “水调歌头•明月几时有” by 苏轼 (Su Shi), which miiight be the base inspiration for Liyue’s general storyline and cast

.

In the end… Zhongli quotes a line of songci with seven hanzi/syllables. It’s a wild guess but maybe it refers to the original Seven Archons?

欲买桂花同载酒…只可惜故人，何日再见呢…

[mrabubu]

Does Syanna deserves redemption, and why she doesn't?

Ok, so by this moment some of you might know that I'm a huge fan of The Witcher 3, and for some time "Blood and Wine" DLC and it's endings been a huge dilemma for me. When I played it the first time about 3-4 years ago, I didn't really though much about my own choice, and went for "the best ending", because everyone considered it to be the best, but after all this time I started to think, is it really the best, and does Syanna really deserves redemption and to be forgiven? So, to finally summarise, I've decided to make this post, with my own analysis, facts and lines from the game itself... Because I just need to get it out of my system, so yeah... Let's start.

So my main problem in all this is Syanna herself, her motives, past and all... Yeah, ok, she was traumatized, treated awfully by her family, but after some analysis, I don't feel any sympathy towards her.

People use her childhood as an argument to her actions, but has anyone though about if she even tried to act differently? From what we learn from the game, and from Anarietta herself, Syanna never even tried to change. Syanna had many chances to stop this all or to start over, but she didn't care, because she didn't want to change. She admits herself that even if she had a chance (and she did had) to start over, she wouldn't change anything, and if people see her as a monster, she will be one.

Even Anarietts herself admits and never hides that Syanna was cruel, selfish and possessive.

Not to mention unquestionably terrible things she did and didn't feel any remorse or even laughed at, like the story with Cedric and his brother whom he killed because of Syanna's "prank". Torturing fairy tale creatures in the land of a thousand fables to the point when they feel terrified when she approaches. Or even that story which led to her exile: why didn't Syanna stop Anarietts from setting those balloons on fire which they then threw at that envoy? I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure this didn't went without any consequences for him.

After some thinking, I can't even be sure that Anarietta is to blame. Anarietta was the youngest in the family, and as most youngest, she looked up to her older sibling. In some way, Syanna was the one who raised Anarietta to be the way she was and to be like her older sister. Even Syanna admits so, by saying that Anarietta wanted to impress her. Syanna had to take responsibility for her actions, or at least understand that when time will come to find a culprit, she will be the one to blame. I will also remind that Syanna spent most of her life as a bandit, even became a leader of the gang, which means she probably did a lot of more terrible things, stealing, blackmailng, hurting or even killing people for her own gain. I'm pretty sure she wasn't a female version of Robin Hood.

Syanna's "motivation" lies in resentment toward a child, and even after decades, Syanna never understood that her 12-13 year old sister couldn't do much to change what was coming. Even Geralt understood all this after knowing her for a couple of days.

She never wanted to try and contact Anarietta, talk to her about all that happened then. A grown up, probably about 30-40 years old woman, holding a grudge towards a child, whom Anarietta was back then. She was fine to just kill her younger sister without even trying to solve this peacefully, just ask "why?", even though Anarietta herself tried to find Syanna, but she "didn't wish to be found", to which Syanna never argued, meaning she willingly avoided any chances to talk this out, while Anarietta was the only one who actually held love towards her sibling throughout all these years and tried to do something.

And Syanna saying that she's angry with Anarietta not because she didn't stood up for her, but because "she forgot", I'm sorry, sounds like total b u l l s h i t, because we know and she knows this isn't true. After all this I'm not even sure Syanna really loved Anarietta, if she so easily convinced herself that her little sister is a traitor, forgot about all that they been through, and after at least two decades the only way for her to solve this is to just get rid of Anarietta by somebody else's hands and make an entire scene of this like it was a perfomance. Irony of all this is that Syanna accused Anarietta that she didn't stood up for her because she wanted to take the throne to herself, but a lot of things points to that it is Syanna who just uses her "trauma" and knight's "dishonesty" as an excuse to kill her sister and take the throne. After all this, this was her point at the "court".

The difference between Syanna and Dettlaff is that Dettlaf doesn't kill for fun or joy, while Syanna does. Make Cedric kill his brother was a joke to her. Setting a person on fire made her laugh, "Never laughed so hard in my life", as she said.

Using and blackmailing a person who loved her meant nothing to her and never made her feel guilty or shame, even to the point of blaming him for being too trusting.

Even Geralt was used by her, which she admits at some point by telling she was nice to him only to "get him to sleep with her", which makes this whole thing even more disgusting for me as in all this situation one of the few thing Syanna could think of was s e x. People to her is nothing but toys or tools, even those who love her and saw in her more than she is.

Another difference between those two is that Dettlaff actually tried for many years, if not decades, to live peacefully among humans, helping them, and that is a fact backed up by words or others, and not only by Regis's words, while the only person who tried to defend Syanna was Anarietta, only because they were siblings and Anarietta felt guilty.

And another only person who could tell something about Syanna was her another simple victim she used and manipulated for her own gain.

Even her decision to help to stop Dettlaff doesn't feel like something she decided to do willingly, but something she did under pressure, because she had no choice. She admitted herself that she would prefer just to run away rather than face Dettlaff, but I guess it's hard to do so when another higher vampire and a witcher standing in front of you.

And do you remember that moment when we first got to the land of a thousand fables, and Syanna asks us what are we doing here, and if we choose the sarcastic line, she genuinely doesn't understand why are we ended up here, meaning she either forgot about Dettlaff's threat and her "promise" to help, or just didn't care from the start.

And, honestly, right after Dettlaff fled and Syanna met Anarietta, why didn't she try to stop Anarietta from taking her away? Didn't she just told us that Dettlaff means no joke and meeting with him is "the least she could do"? Why didn't she try to argue, saying that Bauclair is in danger now, and that Syanna has to go and meet Dettlaff. From what we got, it more looked like Syanna wanted to be taken away to sneak out later and just run away.

If we would've gotten a scene where we see that Syanna had a chance to run away but in the end decided to keep her word, that would've been one thing, but all that we see is that she either goes willingly, or Geralt and Regis will probably drag her to Tesham Mutna with broken legs.

But you know what could actually fix this whole situation for me? If in the game we were told that Syanna actually tried to change. If in this accident, that led to her exile, it would've been established that Syanna tried to stop Anarietta, and when she tried to explain what actually happened no one believed her, and Anarietta didn't tell the truth, all this would've actually worked. But no.

And after all this, in the end, she never admits her fault. Everyone, in her opinion, was to blame, while she's the one and only saint and innocent, who did nothing wrong. She never apologises for what she was doing to people, never thinks that maybe some part of her life was the cause of her own actions and not wanting to at least try and not provoke others. We have, as an example, second DLC, Hearts of stone, where we have Olgierd, who was also a terrible man, but the main difference between Syanna and him, that he admits he himself caused what he got, that he caused so much pain to those he loved,

and in the ending where he survives, we at least see him wanting to start a new life, even tho he lost everything he had and loved.

We don't see anything remotely like this from Syanna. While Olgierd regects his past and decides to start a new life, "take faith in his own hands", Syanna keeps blaming the world for everything wrong in her life, her parents, her sister, the knights, never considering that maybe she also did something wrong.

And in this "best ending" everyone just forgave her and forgot about all these sick things she did across her life, while our/Geralt's best friend, who we know for a long time, if you consider books, helped Geralt many times, once already died fighting for us in the battle agains Vilgefortz, basically tortured himself to find out why Dtttlaff is doing what he's doing, in this ending became "anathema", is chased by his own kind, and had to kill a person who saved his life and was the one who actually tried to change.

And so, in the end we have a sadistic, self-centered psychopath, who used, hurt, manipulated and lied to those who trusted her, never expressed any kind of remorse towards those she hurt, never reflected on her life and never even tried to change to prove that she's a better person from who people though she was.

If to choose, I would choose to safe Dettlaff, because unlike Syanna, he tried to change, and I do believe that this character could be redeemed and never wanted any of this from the start, and the fact is a fact that if not for Syanna, nothing of this would've happened. After learning more about Vampire's lore, talking to Regis about how hard it is for them to live among humans, I actually feel sorry for him and Dettlaff. Yes, Dettlaff did terrible thing, he's impulsive and because of that many people died, but that's why the game give us an option to kill him too. I, myself, would never choose to save Syanna and give her a happy ending after all she did and whi she is. For me, she's unquestionably unredeemable.

[sameteeth]

anyways, i do think its really interesting that chuuya figures out that dazai was putting pieces into place to get him ousted from the sheep like a month ahead of time... its also really interesting to consider WHY dazai did it and the implications it carries. dazai watches shirase and yuan pressure and guilt chuuya about "doing his part" for the sheep as a person with an ability, then immediately takes action to relieve pressure from chuuya

which is kinda funny bc dazai at least in the short term is following what shirase is saying - dazai has the ability to help save the hostages, and he does lol. demon prodigy indeed. MORE IMPORTANTLY though. dazai recognizes that chuuya is being controlled by the sheep even though he is the leader. chuuya and mori make good comparisons here - this arc starts with mori bemoaning his responsibility as the boss of the port mafia, and we see chuuya consistently failing to do his responsibility as the leader of the sheep. he even denies the title of king, stating that it's only his ability that puts him above the rest. to digress a bit, i think this is partly why when chuuya joins the port mafia he so quickly submits to them - he is no longer the sole ability user, and thus the responsibility doesnt rely entirely on him to protect the group. something to be said here about the way bsd almost never touches on the ability user vs non-ability user dichotomy but ill save that. back to the main point. dazai takes it upon himself to free chuuya from the sheep. he acknowledges the limitations chuuya has to function under as the leader of the sheep and the weight of the responsibility he bears for no reason other than his ability

but then! dazai forces chuuya into the port mafia to save him from the sheep ! doesnt that seem contradictory??? isnt that hypocritical? chuuya seems pissed about it!

granted, I'd be pissed too if my friends stabbed me with a switch covered in rat poison then tried to gun me down. regardless, chuuya can see how dazai set him up to be outcast from the sheep without having to break the tie himself. chuuya is loyal to the sheep, even when they distrust him. But! this gives chuuya a chance to escape, even if it's to the port mafia. i think the important thing to focus on here is that the port mafia is an Actual organization made up of adults. the sheep are a bunch of kids, ones that are easily led. the limited pieces we see of them are shirase and yuan, who throw temper tantrums and try to clumsily manipulate chuuya when he doesn't listen to them. they admit to stealing alcohol from mafia-adjacent territory and just generally seem immature... because theyre kids. but what we see of the mafia is much different. mori is a strong leader because he is smart and rational. he thinks ahead. he, unlike chuuya, is the leader because he wants to protect yokohama, and understands the sacrifice necessary to do so. chuuya is the leader because no one could beat him in a fight. the port mafia offers a chance for growth (ignoring that these are children in the mafia ok play with me here) as a fighter and as a leader - chuuya becomes an exec when he's still a teenager i think (theres not a specific age anywhere i can find) and is a much more calm and smart fighter once he joins.

so it's good (play with me) that chuuya is able to join the port mafia. BUT he would never have been able to leave if dazai had not forced his hand. this paradox - the idea that chuuya obtains freedom from being forced to leave something he doesn't want to - is SUPER interesting to consider !! here i will dissolve into rambles. i learned about this paradox in the context of mary wollstonecraft and the vindication of the rights of women - wollstonecraft believed only educated people could truly be free, as they were not only free of oppression but also no longer slaves to their emotions, and were able to have opportunities and use their education for their own betterment. the situation with chuuya reminded me of this, because with the sheep chuuya had no one to rely on or to teach him, limiting his capacity for growth and ultimately his freedom. the sheep were reliant on him for protection, and feared him, but chuuya had everything to lose if he were to try and leave the sheep. he had nothing without them, and they needed him for his power. but they were beholden to their emotions, immature and uncertain how to actually get power. their primary motivators for action are retaliation - dazai mentions this when chuuya attacks him, and shirase and yuan mention this when they are urging chuuya to help them. but when chuuya talks to mori and koyo (<3) about their actions, both of them are much more forward thinking than that. mori is very cunning and sly, and koyo tells chuuya that even if things go south in the meeting she's taking him to to, they know how to move forward. chuuya's world has expanded beyond the sheep's limited gaze.

of course, he's still trapped in the port mafia, but if you REALLY want to discuss free will..... we'll be here all fucking night. free will is really hard to pin down and i always have to talk about determinism and its a lot to wrap ur head around and i just like drawing connections between stuff i like

[movedtodykedvonte]

Big shot Spamton was 100% not used to the life style.

He didn’t know the proper fork for salad or spoon for soup. He doesn’t know all the fancy words for things like what the fuck is a “charcuterie board” that’s the appetizer plate they get at the cyber grill. He didn’t know what to wear unless he was explicitly told or dressed, didn’t get all the ps & qs or etiquette, it just didn’t feel right. Like it didn’t fit, like he didn’t fit. Like every time he needed to ask about how to be fancy or a big shot they would whisper behind his back, call him a fake or ridicule his ignorance. He was a simple Addison after all, and not even one that could afford fancier casual things.

Was it snazzy and cool to be someone? Yeah, that’s what he always wanted! But it had to be stressful being jutted into a completely different world with no one to truly instruct you on it.

[orbmanson7]

How can Logan drinking an ever growing amount of wine in the birthday video be interpreted as? What kind of message us viewers (and Thomas since he was interviewing them) are we supposed to receive from that display?

Alcohol, huh? Here's a trigger warning just in case! I'll be talking about alcohol a lot in this.

Alright, so the obvious answer here is that they are playing on the adult comedy trope of someone drinking wine indicating they are stressed but still have some of their dignity left (it's not like they are so desperate, they're drinking straight whiskey or care so little about class that they're downing beers).

Alcohol in media is often used to portray a character using unhealthy coping mechanisms to handle stress. Namely as a way to say, in not so many words, that someone is either trying to forget something that upsets them or that someone is trying to de-stress from their hectic life. This is likely why both Logan and Janus are seen drinking wine, though Logan, as you've noticed, definitely does it a lot more often. Yes, it's played up for comedic effect, but it's still probably meant to show us how stressed he is.

In WTIT, once Logan realizes he will not only have to keep Thomas on task but also have to wrangle in Remus, he purposefully dumps out his coffee and immediately fills a tumbler with wine instead. In the early afternoon, too, no less. Yikes.

I won't get into potential alcoholic behaviors or anything because it's clear this is meant to be a joke above all else, even if it's a joke about someone utilizing an unhealthy coping mechanism. The only thing to really focus on with this is its lack of prevalence among other sides and its recently increased frequency in videos.

Like I mentioned, we've only really seen Janus and Logan purposefully ingest the stuff (sorry, Patton), but I fully believe that Janus drinks wine more for the aesthetics than for its effects. It's a villainous prop, it completes his look - the one he wants others to see. That's why we don't typically see him actually drink the wine when he's shown with it, mostly just holding it in a glass.

For him, it's more about looking like someone who drinks wine than actually wanting/needing to drink it. This is why he likes being seen as the "sassy aunt" like he said in the anniversary video, as the 'wine aunt' is another common trope seen in media. The wine aunt is often characterized as someone who likes to gossip, indulge themselves, and often cares more about how others perceive them and pretending they're unbothered by it than actually doing anything about it. Maybe that says something about Janus, maybe not. ;)

But in Logan's case, things are definitely different. I highly doubt it's about aesthetics for him (well, it is on a meta level for the sake of comedy, but not within the narrative) and it's far more about the wine's function.

Alcohol is known to lower inhibitions. As a depressant, it can heighten emotions (any emotions - happiness, sadness, anger, etc.) and it allows you to make more impulsive decisions that you may have properly thought out and talked yourself out of otherwise - depending on your tolerance level, that is. I don't personally like wine but I know it takes several drinks and shots before I can even feel buzzed, so Logan having increasingly larger containers doesn't have to only exist as a running joke, it can also indicate that he has a very high tolerance level.

That means he has a lot of control over himself and his faculties, and if he would want those inhibitions lowered, it would take A LOT of alcohol to actually have a significant effect on him.

If that was another way of saying he's divulging in something that will get his guard down and possibly let something more emotional take hold, it certainly would be an interesting analogy to use for such a purpose.

But, here's the thing - Logan indulging in drinking wine is a choice. He is choosing to do this, likely knowing full well what alcohol can do to someone's mind (which is why he keeps drinking more and more as time goes on). Comedic bit or not, Logan is either using wine as a unhealthy coping mechanism for stress and it's going to result in lowered inhibitions and impulsive choices that he's determined may be worth the risk, or he's using wine for the express purpose of its ability to lower inhibitions and heighten emotions and doesn't care if it's helping him handle his stress or not.

Either way, it doesn't seem like a smart move to make, at least not in the long-term.

But maybe it's a key to getting things moving narratively, who knows?

[clementine-kesh]

gay zillenials who make hour long videos tearing apart some dumb ya book are the backbone of the fiber arts community