#traditional vs simplified

[yuangler]

Zodiac: Twelve Souls — 24

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Three-Step Tiger

“I will have to give you something to look at, little hare!”

news

— New translated chapter posted.

— Next update target: October 11, 2022

notes

— Three-step tiger:

From 三步虎 (sān bù hǔ).

Another xiangqi-themed title for this non-player to struggle over!

I, um. I think. That 三步虎 is referring to a methodology wherein a person plays their chariot(s) (車、俥) within the first three moves (三步). 

The chariot is apparently one of the strongest pieces in xiangqi, so this would be considered an aggressive way to start the game. The “tiger” (虎) thus refers to the ferocity of the strategy.

— Damn hare:

From 兔崽子 (tù zǎi zi).

Literally, the term refers to young rabbits or hares. Functionally, the term is an insult that often has little to do with actual rabbits. Think of how jackass is used to describe obnoxious and/or awful people, while literally meaning male donkey in English. It’s kind of like that!

— Can’t tell black from white:

Somewhat abbreviated in Wu Bodu’s thought bubble. The original idiom:

bù fēn qīng hóng zào bái 不分青红皂白

Unable to distinguish green from red or black from white 

— Dragon:

A slight nuance that gets lost in translation: the word for “dragon” that Ji Shiye recalls is specifically the traditional character for dragon (龍) rather than the simplified form (龙). The word remains in traditional form even within Shiye’s thought bubble (“Dragon”… to what does it refer?).

This is highly unusual. Exposition and dialogue (for both speech and thought) is written in Simplified Chinese in this manhua, even in reference to text written in Traditional Chinese. One related example is in Year of the Dog, when Quan Diyan quotes Shiye’s intercepted message. The image of the fragmented message shows traditional characters in seal script, but Diyan’s mental commentary renders the message in simplified characters.

Another example: names of places. Wanchu City, Qigong Cuisine and Wujian Ridge are all written with traditional characters on official signage, logos, etc. But past the fourth wall, in character dialogue bubbles and location descriptor boxes, these location names are all described in simplified characters.

So why does Shiye’s “dragon” break this rule?

Well, I’m not sure. It might not mean anything. I guess I just think it’s interesting!

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[panvani]

I do think the introduction of a trans-ethnic, phonetic writing system that could be used to transcribe (if, inevitably, inadequately) multiple unrelated languages of Asia is really cool and I do have to wonder about the linguistic and social consequences if this had stuck around after the Yuan dynasty

[dandyshucks]

the difference btwn irl and online perspective on creativity is so funny to me and idk if I'll ever get used to the stark contrast of it all.

IRL when I mention that I draw and write, people act like I'm some super talented creative genius(???). they don't seem to understand the concept of OCs, and if I try to vaguely touch on my DL project they get visibly overwhelmed no matter how simple I make it for them, and eventually they settle on just insisting that I need to publish traditionally and monetize on it. they don't seem to have the ability to understand the concept of zines and immersive storytelling through non-traditional means.

but then i get online and I'm just another drop in the ocean and always a very mediocre drop at that LMAO, I constantly fight with myself to feel like there is any sort of value to my stories and art, and there's hundreds of people doing the sort of thing that I do but even better than I could ever dream of doing!

it's just so strange going from interacting with this online to IRL, I feel like I'm getting whiplash from being largely ignored or scoffed at online (which I'm fine with btw lol I grew up with that in my family and now I get nervous when I get too much attention) to people at the centre treating me like I'm some kind of artistic genius who cannot be understood because I'm too far above their level 😭

[niteshade925]

Finally starting to hand write Chinese again after many years.

Man my handwriting looks ugly af lmao

Literally the only character that's slightly presentable

[pompompurin1028]

how many languages do you speak? this is so random idk…

It's not that random, don't worry about it <3

And technically I can speak two languages. Chinese and English. But under the Chinese language umbrella, I speak both Cantonese and (though much less fluently) Mandarin/Putonghua. But Cantonese and Putonghua aren't really mutually intelligible? But I don't do linguistics so this is not really my place to speak on that. I also know very very tiny bits of French because I learnt it for a bit but stopped because of the pandemic... (so I probably forgot a lot of it orz so we don't count that)

[virtualizationhowto]

ZeroTier Download and Install: Connect Devices Together from Anywhere

ZeroTier Download and Install: Connect Devices Together from Anywhere #Zerotier #DecentralizedNetwork #SecureMobileDevice #ZerotierVsTraditionalVPNs #SoftwareDefinedNetworking #AdvancedZerotierFeatures #homelab #selfhosted #connectdevicestogether

Networking is often one of the most challenging aspects of connecting devices and using applications. It is also extremely important to consider when self-hosting services or connecting devices together that may be connecting to many different networks across the Internet. Let’s look at Zerotier download and installation to see how it can easily connect multiple devices to the same virtual…

[synchodai]

HBO's Continued Insistence on Dumbing Down Westerosi Politics

So there have been countless thinkpieces already on how GOT simplified the feudalist politics of Westeros (by giving a lowborn sellsword lordship over The Reach, by having no consequences for destroying the Sept of Baelor, etc.), but I haven't seen a lot of people talking about that for House of the Dragon.

The worst being that the show presupposes that Rhaenyra is the lawful heir when the books showed there are plenty of lawful arguments why she wouldn't be.

Mind you that I've been enjoying the show a lot so far. This is just to vent out my frustration with the writers' failure to fully engage with the values and protocols of the Middle Age-inspired setting. The show seems uninterested in laws of the Realm in a story ostensibly about politics, save for when they're using it as an excuse to amplify depictions of sex and violence.

Blacks vs Greens wasn't a matter of misunderstanding of who each side thought Viserys wanted on the throne. It was the Targaryens' belief of their absolute authority clashing with the Realm's established traditions. Everyone always knew who Viserys chose as heir. In Fire and Blood, Grand Maester Orwyle said as much when he was parleying with Rhaenyra on behalf of the Greens.

Rhaenyra heard his terms in stony silence, then asked Orwyle if he remembered her father, King Viserys. "Of course, Your Grace," the maester answered. "Perhaps you can tell us who he named as his heir and successor," the queen said, her crown upon her head. "You, Your Grace," Orwyle replied. And Rhaenyra nodded and said, "With your own tongue you admit I am your lawful queen. Why do you serve my half-brother, the pretender?" Munkun tells us that Orwyle gave a long and erudite reply, citing the Andal law and the Great Council of 101. Mushroom claims he stammered and voided his bladder. Whichever is true, his answer did not satisfy Princess Rhaenyra.

(For non-F&B readers: Munkun is the Grand Maester who served Aegon III, the king who came after this civil war. Munkun's book, The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, is one of Fire and Blood's source texts. Mushroom is the King Landing court jester from Viserys I to Aegon III's reign. One is a source written with academic rigor but is secondhand at best. The other is a firsthand eyewitness account but is from a literal fool who will take every chance to make things more scandalous and sexual to please the crowd.)

In House of the Dragon, they replaced Orwyle with Otto and Orwyle's discussion of legal precedent with Otto handing Rhaenyra a book page from Alicent. It's quite evident here that the writers, much like Mushroom, thought a discussion on the actual laws of the Realm were negligible in this story about a succession war.

Even Alicent made no pretense that Viserys chose Rhaenyra over her children and I have no idea why the HBO writers decided to make her mistakenly think otherwise. Maybe they thought a queen regent pushing her son to take the throne over another woman made her appear unsympathetic as a character, but if anything, this only makes show!Alicent less politically savvy and more delusional than her book counterpart, fully believing an addled king's vague muttering on his deathbed was sufficient grounds to change heirs last minute.

Book!Alicent following Andal laws instead of her husband's wishes makes sense given her Andal upbringing, her devotion to the Faith of the Seven which enforces said laws, and her desire to protect her children from Rhaenyra given that Rhaenyra has shown she's not above murdering family (see: Laenor).

In the books, there was a long discussion between the former king's council on who should succeed Viserys.

Here are the arguments for Rhaenyra:

Rhaenyra was older than her brothers and had more Targaryen blood

the late king had chosen her as his successor, that he had repeatedly refused to alter the succession despite the pleadings of Queen Alicent and her greens

hundreds of lords and landed knights had done obeisance to the princess in 105 AC, and sworn solemn oaths to defend her rights.

Here are the arguments for Aegon II:

many of the lords who had sworn to defend the succession of Princess Rhaenyra were long dead [...]

Ironrod, the master of laws, cited the Great Council of 101 and the Old King’s choice of Baelon rather than Rhaenys in 92

the hallowed Andal tradition wherein the rights of a trueborn son always came before the rights of a mere daughter

Ser Otto reminded them that Rhaenyra’s husband was none other than Prince Daemon, and “we all know that one’s nature. Make no mistake, should Rhaenyra ever sit the Iron Throne, it will be Lord Flea Bottom who rules us, a king consort as cruel and unforgiving as Maegor ever was [...]”

Should the princess reign [...] Jacaerys Velaryon would rule after her. “Seven save this realm if we seat a bastard on the Iron Throne.”

Once again, the show chose to cut out this long political discussion. Instead, the council had already made up their mind and decided to stage a coup (when in their perspectives from the books, it would definitely not be a coup).

For all their marketing how two sides are equally grey, HotD is actively delegitimizing Aegon II. The strongest argument for him is how his claim follows the laws of the Realm, but the show doesn't seem to care about the laws of the Realm or the political need to maintain a more predictable/tested transfer of power.

Instead, the show focuses on Viserys's relationship with his daughter and the mysticism of the Targaryen bloodline. In doing so, they emphasize Rhaenyra's strongest arguments for succession — that she's more of a Targaryen than her half-brother and that her father prefered her.

And what for? Because in our modern-day, we don't have male-prefered inheritance and people can only imagine misogyny as the only injustice here? What about the injustice of a monarch exercising absolute control, thinking that his "superior" heritage makes him above the established laws of the native people?

This is not to say Aegon II is unquestionably the heir. But this is to say that the show removed the political nuance of why people are questioning in the first place. Precedence isn't the end-all-be-all of succession, but neither is "because daddy said so".

[rarepears]

Part of the reason why Cang Qiong accepts Shen Qingqiu's "memory loss" so easily is because the Qing Jing peak lord even forgot how to write...

AKA modern Shen Yuan grew up learning and writing Simplified Chinese so you really can't blame him for struggling with traditional Chinese. He can guess the characters while reading, but writing? Haha... Do you KNOW how many more strokes there are in Traditional Chinese for the same character?!

Let's take doctor as an example: 医生 (simplified) vs 醫生 (traditional)

Heck, some of the differences are minor but it's still a brainfuck: 够 (simplified) vs. 夠 (traditional)

Ming Fang has taken to proofreading and rewriting his shizun's reports before they get sent out to external parties for this reason.

[korpikorppi]

Guys, I just now noticed one more interesting little detail in the Untamed!

You know the names of the buildings in the Cloud Recesses: the lecture room/hall Lanshi (兰室, Lánshì, "Orchid Room"); Yashi (雅室, Yǎshì, "Elegant Room") – the reception room/hall; the spirit-summoning room/hall Mingshi (冥室, Míngshì, "Underworld Room" or "Room of Darkness"); Hanshi (寒室, Hánshì, "Frost Room") - Lan Xichen's residence; and Lan Wangji's Jingshi (静室, Jìngshì, "Quiet Room"), right?

The character used to write the "shì", room, in the names is 室, here seen in the Lanshi and the Yashi (the names are read from right to left):

As a side note, the Lan seem to use the traditional rather than the simplified characters, so the "lán" in the Lanshi is written with 蘭 rather than 兰.

BUT. Not so in the Jingshi! Instead of the 室, a slightly different character is used for the "room":

My trusty dictionary did not know the character in question, so I started to look at what was different:

As such, the character 凶 (xiōng) means act of violence, murder, evil. An evildoer. A murderer. And as Lan Xichen told Wei Wuxian, we know who lived in the Jingshi before it became Lan Wangji's residence: "It is the place where our mother lived in the Cloud Recesses".

So, it seems that when the house became Madam Lan's prison, the character was changed to reflect her crime, denoting the place as the quiet room of a murderer. Accentuated by the reversed colours of the sign:

This has probably been quite self-evident to anyone who actually speaks and reads Chinese, but was quite an oooff! to me as I realised. One more killer detail in CQL 😟.

And while I was at it, I just had to check what it says above the gate (seen here when LWJ returns home with the Emperor's Smile):

As far as I can read it, the characters are 影竹堂 (yǐng zhú táng), which I freely translate as "Bamboo Shadow Court". An apt name for the place.

Hopefully it offered some solace to Madam Lan.

And oh, I just have to add! As Hanshi is the Sect Leader's residence, Lan Xichen is living in their father's house, while Lan Wangji is living in their mother's. And the two houses are more or less identical, down to the furnishings (just check the scene where Lan Xichen confronts Wen Chao and his muddy boots in ep8 vs. The Wangxian Scene in ep43). So did Qingheng-jun have the house built for his wife, identical to the house she was not allowed to live in? That is quite plausible, in universe. Out universe, they probably had only so many buildings to shoot in :).

[kairologia]

How to read a natal chart in 13 steps.

This is simplified guide geared towards beginners and people who want to transition to a more traditional approach when assessing a chart. There is no standard method of reading charts, this is simply the method I follow & find most comfortable. It’s a practical, methodical synthesis and just the right amount of intuitive.

Before I begin, I must mention that while assessing planetary conditions I personally verify the following factors — in this order: the sign, house, angularity, direction, whether a planet is direct or retrograde, sect (day vs night), hemisphere (1-6 vs 7-12), phase (morning vs evening, especially notable for venus & mercury), domicile lord (draw a disposition tree if needed), exaltation lord, triplicity lords, bound lord, decan lord, dodecatemoria, aspects to domicile lord if any, aspect to the ascendant if any, apsects to other planets, bonification conditions (i.e aspecting benefics, so supported by aspect), maltreatment conditions (aspected by malefics). This is important to remember because the term “conditions” will come up a lot.

Now onto the actual guide :

1. For starters, you should (assuming you don’t already) learn how to read a whole sign house circle chart. Table charts are nice as a gateway drug, but if you're somewhat serious about learning astrology this is an important transition to make. Once you do, put the chart you’re aiming to assess in front of you, then proceed further.

2. Determine the sect of the chart. This becomes an automatism once you’re used to looking at charts, but if you're not there yet — draw a line on the chart (or visualize said line) going from the degree of the ascendant to the degree of the descendant. If the sun is ABOVE that line — it’s a day chart, so of the day sect. If it’s BELOW that line — it’s a night chart, of the night sect.

3. Take a look at the ascendant. Take note of the rising sign, its modality, & its ruling planet. Does this chart have any 1st house planets? Also, remember to do a quick overview to pinpoint which planets are angular (as in, located in the 1/4/7/10th houses)

4. Track down the ascendant ruler. Check its house placement, condition (see above), and aspects (applying vs separating).

5. Track down the Sect Light. If it’s a day chart, the sect light is the Sun. If it’s a night chart, that would be the Moon. Assess the sect light’s condition (see above), aspects.

6. Check which houses are ruled by the Luminaries (Sun/Moon). The interpretation of the luminaries is intrinsic to the areas of life (Houses) they rule, in addition to their independent significations.

7. Check out the phase of moon at birth. The lunation phase is extremely important as it defines the dynamic between this individual’s luminaries.

8. Take a look at how Mercury is doing in said chart. Condition (see above)? Aspects? Morning or Evening star?

9. Take a look at the Benefic Of Sect & Malefic Out Of Sect (day: Jupiter/Mars, night: Venus/Saturn). Assess their condition (see above), aspects they make, etc. Regarding Venus: verify if she’s Morning or Evening star (if Venus is on the right of the Sun - Morning star, if it's on its left - Evening star). For the Malefic OOC, check if it is bonified by enclosure (i.e : Saturn or Mars are touched by a benefic (Venus/Jupiter) on each sides) — it’s a huge alleviating factor.

10. Then, assess the Benefic Out Of Sect & Malefic Of Sect (day: Venus/Saturn, night: Jupiter/Mars).

11. Then, take a global look seeking anything that may be of note. Stelliums, several retrograde planets, a Cazimi, Out Of Bounds planets, a void moon, etc.

12. Lastly, I go through each house individually. This is where the chart synthesis proper begins. In practice, I like to tell a story beginning from the 1st house & culminating in the 12th, while highlighting the thematics of each house as I go.

13. This is optional, but I like to take a look at annual and monthly profections to see which themes are presently highlighted/emphasized for the individual whose chart I’m looking at.

And we’re done.

Check pinned if you want to book with me!

[demifiendrsa]

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - Announce Trailer

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 will launch for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam) in 2025.

The list of included titles is as follows:

Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

Capcom Fighting Evolution

Street Fighter Alpha 3 UPPER

Project Justice

Power Stone

Power Stone 2

Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein

Key visual for illustrated by Shinkiro

Title logo

Screenshots

Overview

About

Combining hard-hitting classics like Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 with fan favorite brawlers like Power Stone 2 in one knockout package, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 comes chock-full of new features including online play and quality-of-life updates across all eight games!

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is a lights-out collection of fighting games and fun-filled classics hitting modern platforms for the first time, including:

Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

Capcom Fighting Evolution

Street Fighter Alpha 3 UPPER

Project Justice

Power Stone

Power Stone 2

Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein

Key Features

Face Off with Friends Online – Online play is available across all eight titles, featuring rollback netcode for a strong and stable online experience!

Hit the Training Bag – Training Mode is now available across all titles with tons of customizable options!

Expanded Language Support! – 14 languages will be supported including English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Castilian Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Arabic!

A Museum’s Worth of Content – Explore art and music galleries with official art, concept art, design documents, and more never-before-seen content.

Customize Your Experience – Fine-tune specific features of your gameplay experience via EX Settings specialized to each game, various Display Filters, button customization, and more.

Need a Snack Break? – Mid-game saves have now been added!

Additional Updates – Various gameplay balance adjustments and quality of life improvements across all eight games.

[max1461]

Is learning Japanese easier or harder after learning Mandarin 中文? I could see it going both ways- although I’d like to learn both languages.

- HSK3

I mean, I have no idea cause I don't speak Mandarin, but I can't imagine that learning any language would ever make learning another language harder. And obviously if you're fluent in written Chinese you'll know a lot of the characters already, although be warned: many of them look slightly different (Traditional or Simplified Chinese Characters vs. Shinjitai Kanji), and also many of them are used differently. But still, already knowing the basics of the characters should be a huge advantage, and many of the compounds are shared. Of course this applies just as well in reverse, learning Japanese first before Mandarin.

[mask131]

Have you thought of looking at the lore of the World of Darkness? It is the overarching world of Vampire the Masquerade amd Werewolf the Apocalypse, with a lot of unique takes on traditional folklore, religion, and mythology. I'd like to see what you think of it

Unfortunately you wouldn't see much what I think" about it because when it comes to World of Darkness I usually gobble things up and loses most critical thought X)

I am a HUGE, HUGE Changeling the Lost fan, and I also do enjoy a lot the Vampire the Masquerade lore. I only have a vague knowledge of the Vampire the Requiem remake, and I need to get into it in more details one of those days - and from what I understood and saw Changeling the Dreaming was indeed a bad game that Changeling the Lost surpassed in all ways. I did take a plunge into Werewolf the Apocalypse - especially because of the big evil company led by eldritch entities of chaos (that was my jam), though I have no knowledge of its remake - and I also did plan earlier to take a look at the two Mage games (but never could for now).

All in all I am a sucker for most World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness products - in terms of lore however cause I can't play them, but from what I udnerstood a LOT of people are just here for the lore and if they have to play they use the Vampire video games.

Though if you want my opinion for the actual over-arching world - I will confess, I actually do not care. I enjoy the lore and worldbuilding and twists of each games on its own, but when it comes to tying them all together into one universe I surprisingly find it the most boring part. Unless it is very well made, I tend to skip all the sections of books about crossovers.

As for "WoD vs CoD", I am a man who likes both and thinks they complement each other. WoD was the original, the start of the trend, ad it had this distinctive feel that you can't recreate anymore of the 90s/2000s Gothic and horror and dark urban fantasy - even though it also aged badly in some aspect, and alongside its best-sellers and masterpieces it had some really bad and flat instalments. CoD learns from its mistakes, takes new fresh twists, and brings a whole new ground of thought, inspiration and art to the table - and I will be forever thankful for Changeling the Lost. But I have to admit that several CoD games also lose a bit of the specific feel and specialty that made Wod special, resulting in several instalments either feeling too generic, too simplified, or just making them look pale and weak compared to their predecessors.

So overall it is a mixed bag.

If I ever made World of Darkness posts, it would be exposition posts where I just collect all info and shoot them back again X) Not much personal critical thought. But if people dig this up, why not? My original "creepy media" posts for the spooky season were the Magic the Gathring ones - but they are not doing quite well, so I can switch to posts about World of Darkness if that's what my audience wants! I just need to conclude the series of post for Dark Ascension that is stored in my drafts, and then I could switch to the White Wolf games

[satoshi-mochida]

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road delayed to 2024, Switch beta test set for March 2024

Gematsu Source

LEVEL-5 has delayed soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road from its previously planned 2023 release window to 2024 worldwide. It will be available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, iOS, and Android. A worldwide beta test demo for Switch will be held in March 2024 with support for English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese language options.

Here is an overview of the game’s features:

New Features: Revamped Match System / Team Building / Player Rarities / Spirits / Focus / Scramble / Zone / Special Tactics / Fighting Spirit / Barrier System / Shot Chain / Shot Blocking / Long Shot / Win Treasures / Pre-Match Briefing / Equipment / Skill Switching / Hero Tokens / Ability Learning Board / Special Move Manuals / Passive Skill Manuals / Live Commentary / Character Voices

Story Mode: Most Animated Content in Series History (Animation: MAPPA) / Player Scouting / Story-Matches / Soccer Battle / Focus Battles / Regional Qualifiers / National Tournament / Practice Matches / Special Training

Chronicle Mode: Chronicle Competition Routes / Player’s Universe / Inazuma V Caravan Time Travel / Over 4,500 Characters Including Past Players / Over 4,500 Saveable Players

Online Player-versus-Player: Victory Road Online Tournament / Free Matches / Player Ranks / Rankings / Seasonal Management / Seasonal Player Collection / Additional Players and Teams Added Online

Other: Library / Scene Archive / Cast Switching Feature for Event Scenes / Player Encyclopedia / Team Encyclopedia / Toy Integration Feature / Additional Stories and Systems via Season Pass / Additional Stories and Systems via Expansion Pass

The worldwide beta test demo will include the following features:

Single-Player: Team Selection / Difficulty Selection

Online Player-versus-Player: Random Matches / Private Matches / Team Selection / Character Progression / Save Function (no transfer to the main game)

Story Mode: Chapter 1

Watch a new trailer and gameplay video below. Visit the official website here.

Trailer #4

English

Japanese

Traditional Chinese

Strategy Meeting: "Vs Eastwind Peregrine"

English

Japanese

Traditional Chinese

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 2: #E1 vs #E2

#E1: Dead people are revived with souls from the future. Hilarity and angst ensue.

#E2: Psychic girl is adopted by Yakuza. Hijinks ensue.

Details and poll under the cut!

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

Summary:

People from the modern world transmigrating (Chinese version of isekai) into the ancient Chinese fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi shows up for this test. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their advanced knowledge on science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

Propaganda:

The setting is a genius mix of ancient and modern. Lou Zhu’s tower looks like an ancient Chinese building on the outside, but on the inside it’s like a hotel, complete with different entertainment venues and even a milk tea shop! And of course, what’s a hotel without an elevator? But since electricity isn’t invented yet, it’s just powered by different men (in fancy uniforms) on bicycles.

You’d expect that the locals would have some amount of horror, sadness, and grief over dead people coming back to life and moving and talking as if nothing has happened. Except there isn’t; at least, not much. They’ve gotten used to it. Life still has to go on, so why not enjoy it?

On one hand, You Yao shows us the transmigrators’ lives and how they cope in this unfamiliar world. Often in isekai/transmigration stories, the locals are portrayed as “backward” and “ignorant” to highlight the modern character’s supposed intelligence. But in You Yao, the two parties have an equal relationship. Transmigrators still have to follow the laws set by the Emperor, and their modern knowledge doesn't always prove to be useful. Unless they can invent novel things despite limited materials, their knowledge often fails to set them apart. I mean, what are you gonna do when you’re an art student whose only talent is drawing p*rn but people expect you to cook??? Or how about when you’re literate in Simplified Chinese but can’t read the locals’ Traditional Chinese text? Or what about when your soul ends up in the body of a mosquito instead???

Even with a high salary from the Emperor, being a transmigrator is not that easy. And as the show unfolds, we find that there’s more to them than comedic figures. 

On the other hand, You Yao is also about the locals and how they have to adapt to their fast-changing world. My favorite among them is Lin Kai. He has fully embraced the changes that he’s become akin to a transmigrator in his knowledge of the modern world. He’s not prominent in the novel, but the donghua treated him with a full musical sequence when he was about to confess to his crush 😂. As the only straight character, they probably had to highlight his love story to let the BL go under the radar—Oh, have I mentioned this show is a BL with several pairs?

Chinese censorship won’t allow the gay to be explicit, but they managed to still make it very fruity. The s1 ending song is literally about the second pair, Li Ke and Zhou Rongqi (aka Prince Yu).

Then there’s the animation style, which is a hybrid of 2D and 3D CGI. People not used to 3D anime may wince at this, but it’s actually common in China. You Yao’s style works quite well for it, too, giving it a distinctive flair.

To sum it up, You Yao is a compelling show that deconstructs the isekai/transmigration genre. If you’re after comedy with depth and an overarching plot, this is the show for you. There’s also some gay romantic angst sprinkled throughout, giving you lots of materials for fanfiction 😎

Trigger warnings: Guns, kidnapping, and imprisonment. Nothing too dark, though.

#E2: Hinamatsuri

Summary:

While reveling in the successful clinching of a prized vase for his collection, Yoshifumi Nitta, a yakuza member, is rudely interrupted when a large, peculiar capsule suddenly materializes and falls on his head. He opens the capsule to reveal a young, blue-haired girl, who doesn't divulge anything about herself but her name—Hina—and the fact that she possesses immense powers. As if things couldn't get any worse, she loses control and unleashes an explosion if her powers remain unused. Faced with no other choice, Nitta finds himself becoming her caregiver.

Propaganda 1:

Hinamatsuri is about…

Hina, who is a psychic metaphor for autism ala Mob but imo better. She’s not only a weirdgirl who’s friends are almost all other strange girls, but she’s also into stuff that is just so either unfitting for her age or she’s just really intense about.

Nitta, who deserves all the fangirls and husbando-ing that every other random guy in anime gets. He’s a bachelor who loves pottery and can cook so well that Hina convinces her friends they have a gourmet chef working for them. He’s also a yakuza and is beloved by the aniki for being incredibly tough and scary. (He is gentle as hell with Hina.)

A bunch of other weird girls (Admin: this part of the propaganda has been cut due to possible spoilers)

Propaganda 2:

Hinamatsuri is an absolutely hilarious anime with some of the best comic timing I’ve ever seen. It’s so funny, the various girls are such nonsense.

Hina starts as a violent blank slate and develops into a lazy greedy horrible little gremlin. Anzu starts as a prideful edgy rival but eventually becomes a wholesome overly grateful insecure mess. Hitomi is forced to become more and more competent, independent, and adult because she can't stand up for herself and say no to people asking her for favors.

Nitta is a fantastic viewpoint character because he outwardly takes so much in stride that it’s easy to forget how annoyed and stressed everything makes him until he snaps.

Trigger Warnings: There is child nudity, but only for a Terminator reference. There is some comedic child neglect and slapstick. There is a child who is homeless, but it’s treated very sensitively.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[userdramas]

I’ve been using a pretty good website for Chinese fonts and thought it would be nice to do a little guide to using it, since everything is in Chinese!

The website: https://www.fonts.net.cn/fonts-zh-1.html

Why I love it:

It has over 6000 Chinese fonts

There’s an option to toggle your sample text between simple and traditional so you don’t have to type it in twice

The fonts are actually decently categorised and sorted vs other websites that just give you a dump which makes it very difficult to find a certain style you might be looking for

This guide will cover:

How to navigate the website

How to differentiate whether a font is simplified or traditional

How to download a font

How to choose a font by style - this is where the “quick crash course on Chinese scripts” comes in 🤡

✦ NAVIGATING THE WEBSITE

There are three ways to filter the fonts: alphabetically, by style, or by font foundry (i.e. the company that designs/ distributes the fonts)

The most convenient way to find a font based on a “look” you’re looking for is to filter them by style

You can either play around with the style filters by yourself, but I’ve put in the translations for each category at the end of this post

There is also an area you can key in your sample text to see how it will turn out with the font and (very important) check whether the font has that particular character

The simplified-traditional toggle will automatically convert words that have simplified/ traditional forms when clicked so you don’t have to retype anything on your part (yay!) (¬‿¬ )

✦ SIMPLIFIED VS TRADITIONAL

A quick way to identify whether a font is simplified or traditional is by the font name

简 (jiǎn) indicates a simplified font

繁 (fán) indicates a traditional font

However, not all fonts will indicate whether they are simplified or traditional in their name

If so, one way of doing it is to enter a word you know has simplified and traditional versions and see which version pops up

Example 1: I keyed the simplified 龙 (lóng) “dragon” into the sample text bar. The results I got were mostly simplified, but there was one that gave me 龍 - the traditional way of writing 龙

Example 2: I keyed in 红尘醉微醺的岁月 (one of my favourite lines from one of Jay Chou’s songs lmao) in simplified form, and got this

Some traditional fonts automatically convert characters into the traditional form, even though you had entered the sample text in simplified

For instance, in the two traditional fonts in the screenshot above, the simplified characters 红, 尘, and 岁 were automatically converted into the traditional 紅, 塵, and 歲 respectively

However, when I clicked the simplified-traditional toggle to test out the traditional form of the phrase, this happened

When fonts don’t have a particular character, there will be a space/ gap/ crossed out box where it should be

And even though some traditional fonts do actually have that traditional character, it, strangely enough, only shows up when you search your text in simplified ヽ(´ー` )┌

This is why it’s really important to check (in both simplified and traditional) whether a particular font has the characters you want before choosing/ downloading it!

And then there are those very few fonts that have both simplified and traditional, like this one 

✦ DOWNLOADING A FONT

To download a font, click the right most yellow button with the download icon

And that’s it! It’ll download automatically, don’t need to do or wait for anything else

Watch out for the fonts with the orange triangle at the corner - you’ll need to pay to use these fonts, even if it’s for personal use!

You can also click on the font itself to open up the page and see sample characters

And this is the end of the guide if you’re content with just searching around and exploring on your own! If you want to know a little bit more about the font styles and different scripts, read on (at your own risk) ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

✦ FONT STYLES

+ quick crash course on Chinese scripts

Disclaimer: I don’t have any background in Chinese calligraphy (the most Chinese calligraphy I ever did was in school when they made everyone take it for like a semester or something which ended up in most of us doodling around with ink and absolutely wrecking the brushes) nor have I academically studied the history of Chinese writing. All of the below is just compiled from my own Googling around out of interest since I’ve always been fascinated by fonts, etymology, and the evolution of words over time

The categories in the style filter are quite haphazardly placed, so I’ve grouped them into different sub-categories/ groups based on their commonalities. I’ve tried to put in links to gifsets/ edits where possible, but going back to that disclaimer: I can only recognise the very broad styles (mostly Groups 1 and 3), but not the “sub-categories” (Group 2).

GROUP 1: WIDELY RECOGNISED CALLIGRAPHY/ SCRIPT STYLES

These are the fonts based on the five major styles that are still widely used in Chinese calligraphy today

1. 篆体 (zhuàn tǐ) - seal script

Actual term in calligraphy: 篆书 (zhuàn shū)

Oldest style that is still widely practised today

Used to be common in the latter half of the 1st millennium BC, but the Qin variant eventually became the standard and was standardised during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Today, it’s commonly used in seals (name chops), hence the name

When making gifs/edits, these fonts may be good if you want to convey something that is older or has an ancient feel, or very formal/ official

Gif example: [x - the sect names]

Side note: one thing that really stood out for me when I was watching LBFAD was that the “heavenly realm” uses seal script while the “mortal realm” uses the clerical or regular scripts - which kinda gives the feeling that the heavenly realm is much older or more traditional which makes sense since the folks there are immortals

2. 隶书 (lì shū) - clerical script

Evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, but only became dominant during the Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD, 25-220 AD)

Characters are typically wide and flat, with long horizontal strokes and short vertical strokes

Another important characteristic is 蚕头燕尾 (cán tóu yàn wěi): literally “head of a silkworm, tail of a swallow”, meaning the start of a stroke is heavy but the end of the stroke is light (tapered)

Sometimes, horizontal strokes or downward diagonal strokes have very dramatically flared tails

3. 楷体 (kǎi tǐ) - regular script

Actual term in calligraphy: 楷书 (kǎi shū)

Emerged between the Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period (220-280), gained dominance during the Northern and Southern dynasties (386-589), but only matured during the Tang dynasty (618-690, 705-907)

Still very commonly in use today, and is till today the most easily and widely recognised style since this is the script to which beginners to the language (whether kids in China learning it as their first language or people from around the globe learning Chinese as a foreign language) are usually first exposed

Each stroke is placed slowly and carefully, and all strokes are distinct from each other

Gif example: [x] [x] [x]

4. 行书 (xíng shū) - running/ semi-cursive script

Emerged during the Han dynasty

Approximates normal handwriting

Strokes (and more rarely, characters) are allowed to run into one another (i.e. join up), for instance the word 东 (dōng) in the third line in the image above where the horizontal stroke is joined to the vertical stroke

The brush/ pen leaves the paper less often than in the regular script, explaining the joining of strokes

Characters appear rounder and less angular 

I like to use these fonts when trying to show it’s someone’s handwriting, or when I want something that’s a bit carefree but still want the text to be more or less legible

Gif example: [x]

5. 草书 (cǎo shū) - cursive script

Originated through two phases during the period from the Han to Jin dynasties (266-420)

A fully cursive script with drastic simplifications that requires specialised knowledge, therefore it’s not particularly legible to the average person and has never achieved widespread use beyond the realm of literati calligraphers

Characters may be written without lifting the brush from the paper at all

Strokes are modified or eliminated completely to facilitate smooth writing and to create a beautiful, abstract appearance, and have a highly rounded and soft appearance with a lack of angular lines

I usually use cursive script fonts when I want to convey a mood that is more 潇洒 (xiāo sǎ) - unfettered and unrestrained

Gif example: [x]

This script is the source of Japanese hiragana and many modern simplified forms of Chinese characters

Regular script -> running script -> cursive script -> Japanese hiragana a-i-u-e-o line

書 (shū) traditional form of “book”: in seal script, clerical script, cursive script, running script, and regular script

The cursive script (in the middle) is how the simplified form of the character 书 was derived

GROUP 2: OTHER CALLIGRAPHY/ SCRIPT STYLES & VARIATIONS

Other styles of calligraphy that are different types/ variations of the above 5

1. 行楷 (xíng kǎi) - running regular script

The running regular script follows (mostly) the stroke order of the regular script, but is “freer” than the regular script while being more regular than the running script

Regular script: emphasises stroke order and in calligraphy, is very strict about how the brush is held, when the brush is stopped, and how the brush is turned, 

Running regular script: more “spirited” and convenient, still follows stroke order to a large extent especially for the main strokes

Gif example: [x] [x] [x]

2. 颜楷 (yán kǎi) - Yan-style regular script

Sometimes also called 颜体 (yán tǐ) “Yan script”

Created by the Tang dynasty calligrapher 颜真卿 Yan Zhenqing (709-785)

Conveys a spirit that is solemn, upright, and full of vigour

This is in comparison to early Tang calligraphy which was characterised by thinner strokes and an overall more “introverted” feeling

3. 魏碑 (wèi bēi) - Wei stele script

Sometimes also called 魏楷 (wèi kǎi) “Wei-style regular script”

This is the name given to the script of stone engravings of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties 

Later had a big influence on the regular scripts of the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties

4. 新魏 (xīn wèi) - new Wei script

Came about towards the end of the Qing dynasty (1636-1912) and the start of the Republican era (1912-1949)

From the Wei stele script, it emphasises dots, top right to bottom left strokes, and top left to bottom right strokes (I don’t know how to properly translate 撇捺 (piě nà) lol), especially the edges and corners of strokes

Strokes are straighter which emphasises the strength and hardness of the original Wei stele script

5. 瘦金体 (shòu jīn tǐ) - slender gold script

A type of regular script, also called 鹤体 (hè tǐ) “crane script”

Created by Emperor Huizong (1082-1135) of the Song dynasty

A pretty unique script in that the strokes are slender yet stern and hard, while still being quite well-bodied, and having a free and easy spirit

As the strokes are relatively thin and hard, the brushwork tends to be exposed: you can clearly see the movement of the brush as it turns, is lifted, and pauses

It was originally called 瘦筋体 (shòu jīn tǐ) “slender sinew/ vein script”, but 筋 was changed to the homophone 金 “gold” out of respect to the emperor

GROUP 3: MOVEABLE TYPES & BEYOND

Hello invention of the moveable type!

1. 宋体 (sòng tǐ) - Song script

The Chinese version of serifs

Vertical strokes are thick while horizontal strokes are thin with triangles at the end of single horizontal strokes to mimic the pausing of a brush at the end of a stroke in calligraphy

The names “Song ti” and “Ming ti” refer to the same thing - mainland China uses “Song ti”, Hong Kong and Macau use “Ming ti”, and Taiwan uses both

However, the Song script as we know it today didn’t actually first emerge during the Song dynasty (960-1279), but during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) with the rapid advancement of printing technology

During the Song dynasty, there were three major areas of production (Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian) but instead of using scripts we would recognise as Song/ Ming today, they actually each referenced the calligraphy style of a Tang dynasty calligrapher

It was only during the Ming dynasty that the Song/ Ming script we’re familiar with today was formed from the mimicking of the scripts used in Zhejiang but also making changes such as straightening the strokes

(Confusing I know)

Gif example: [x]

2. 仿宋 (fáng sòng) - imitation Song

Differences from Song script: horizontal strokes slant up slightly, horizontal and vertical strokes do not have very big variations in width, horizontal strokes lack the triangles at the end

Originated during the Republican era, specifically around 1915-1916, modelled after the scripts used in woodblock printing in Lin’an (modern Hangzhou) during the Song Dynasty

Image below: Song script (pink) vs. imitation Song (green)

3. 明体 (míng tǐ) - Ming script

See Song script above

4. 黑体 (hēi tǐ) - sans serif

The Chinese version of sans serifs

Characters have strokes of even thickness and lack decorations

Designed for printing and legibility

Gif example: [x - the smaller characters; yes it applies to Japanese fonts too!]

5. 大黑 (dà hēi) - heavy sans serif

A classification that this font website uses to differentiate the thicker sans serif fonts

6. 细黑 (xì hēi) - light sans serif

A classification that this font website uses to differentiate the thinner sans serif fonts

7. 姚体 (yáo tǐ) - Yao script

Similar to Songti, but tends to be slimmer and longer

Combines the bold and flat look of Heiti with the regularity and neatness of Songti to produce a sturdy yet delicate and dignified font

GROUP 4: MODE OF WRITING

If the above categories are too granular in the details, these two are more generic filters that group fonts based on what tool had been used to write them

1. 毛笔 (máo bǐ) - brush-written

2. 钢笔 (gāng bǐ) - pen-written (actually means “fountain pen”)

GROUP 5: MISCELLANEOUS

And lastly, the more decorative fonts that have been grouped together based on their look or common use

1. 幼圆 (yòu yuán) - rounded fonts

2. 广告 (guǎng gào) - advertisement

3. 彩云 (cǎi yún) - colourful clouds

Kinda like bubble fonts

4. 卡通 (kǎ tōng) - cartoon

5. 综艺 (zōng yì) - variety show

6. 娃娃 (wá wa) - baby

7. 琥珀 (hǔ pò) - amber gemstone

Fonts where individual glyphs in a character overlap

8. 古印 (gǔ yìn) - ancient prints

9. 空心 (kōng xīn) - hollow

Outlined fonts

10. 海报 (hǎi bào) - poster

And congratulations! You’ve come to the end of this really long guide!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calligraphy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_script_styles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

https://www.sohu.com/a/252351217_100196776

https://baike.baidu.com/item/隶书/835864

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script

https://www.sohu.com/a/247074794_488853

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-cursive_script

https://www.sohu.com/a/258068634_99919464

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)

https://new.qq.com/omn/20200924/20200924A08ZWR00.html

http://www.yifanwaiyu.com/data/7

https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7nzHhWqbaxO

https://baike.baidu.hk/item/行楷/9415199

https://www.sohu.com/a/458616249_120744518

http://k.sina.com.cn/article_6658302472_18cdda20800100brol.html?cre=tianyi&mod=pcpager_fintoutiao&loc=30&r=9&doct=0&rfunc=100&tj=none&tr=9#/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Zhenqing

https://baike.baidu.com/item/魏碑/7187676

http://www.dxbei.com/s/20170316/268604.html

https://baike.baidu.com/item/新魏书/410469

https://baike.baidu.com/item/瘦金体/884949

https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh/瘦金书

https://www.lsqww.com/zh-mo/lishimishi/lszx/331358.html

https://www.uisdc.com/why-is-the-song-so-popular

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/宋体

https://baike.baidu.com/item/宋体/836154

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_(typefaces)

https://izihun.com/news/article/361.html

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/66725620?u=https%3A%2F%2Fzhuanlan.zhihu.com%2Fp%2F66725620

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imitation_Song

https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-sg/仿宋體

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_Gothic_typeface

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/姚体

https://m.topys.cn/article/21230

https://baike.baidu.com/item/姚体/332103