Despite that the leads are happily together in episode four even though there are still twelve episodes to go, which probably means I'm going to get punched in the gut by this show before it ends, I'm just going to bask in all the things that make me happy about A Winter Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hills' Dream so far.
The after-credits scenes feel like they are a whole story within themselves yet they are only one minute long! I don't understand what magic is stored in them, but it's so satisfying to hear that lovely ending music just to be served another treat.
Just like with the previous work, the YouTube channel is giving us 'in-between' scenes, like the two brothers discussing Changyang's impulsive decision to go with Qingtian to the mountains.
Or Changyang putting on Qinglang's pajamas.
And the tent scene (even though they were supposed to refrain from sex during the festival or else ~bad luck~).
Qinglang and Changyang are sooooo casually intimate with each other.
Like . . .
LIKE . . . !!!
I love that I'm a bit confused and trust no one, not even Changyang because how did Shi Yuhao know about the secret signal for the livestream that Qinglang was doing for Changyang? How does he know where Qinglang is at all? Could Qingtian possibly be betraying his brother?!
The teacher did say Shi Yuhao told her he had checked with Qingtian about calling into the livestream, and he didn't argue that, so . . . NO! I refuse to entertain the idea that he would lie to his brother when their relationship is so fun.
I was also confused because at first, I thought the other couple were Qinglang and Shi Yuhao in the past since they seem to share a lot of similarities.
They are both at the start of their careers, but one seems to be strategically trying to make a CP happen, so he can gain popularity while the other is trying not to fall for him.
But, maybe this time around, both will be genuine with their feelings.
There is something happening about past lives.
Qinglang saw his past life while meditating and he beautifully said, "I don't think I loved you this much in my past life. Since it wasn't enough, I have to make it all up to you in this life." Plus, the book the teacher spoke about dealt with lovers who realized the value of their love once they were separated, never to see each other again.
I'm pleased to see Hu Yi Chen is still as beautiful as ever and continues to light up the screen just like he did in Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island.
I also want all of his sweaters.
However, much like before, the visuals are the real star here.
They are stunning.
Like . . . (I'm talking about the man and the scenery)
And it's all meaningful like this moment, when the fire picked up as they were intricately sharing the wine.
But there is minimal dialogue, so I'm allowed to just go with the story and sit in every scene, like when Changyang refused to kiss Qinglang, it was clear without words that the reason was because Qinglang was drunk, not because he was a man.
Or when Changyang kept throwing things so Qinglang would know the way home even though he was upset.
And when there is dialogue, it's direct.
Yet also layered just like when these two were fighting without fighting.
So, basically, I like everything about the show so far even though I know the honeymoon can't last forever.
But I need more of the assistant who is so over having to babysit the two children instead of being allowed to spoil his baby boy.
36th Illustration of 山海经 (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) - 形天 (Xíng Tiān)🪓The chapter 《山海经·海外西经》 (The Classic of Western Regions Beyond The Seas) recorded that Xingtian and the Emperor fought here for divine status. The Emperor cut off Xingtian's head and buried it on 常羊山 (Changyang Mountain). Xingtian then used his nipples as eyes and his navel as a mouth, wielding an axe and shield to dance.Literally, Xing Tian fought for the throne with 黄帝 (Yellow Emperor) and according to another source, it was 天帝 (Heavenly Emperor). In the Shan Haijing records, only the character "帝" is mentioned and many sources referred to "帝" as the Yellow Emperor. After being beheaded, he survived by using his nipples as eyes and his navel as a mouth, fighting with an axe and a shield. In mythology Xing Tian's head was then buried on Changyang Mountain. Nowadays, the mountain is known as 仇池山 (Qiuchi Mountain), located in Xihe County, Longnan, Gansu Province.🪓In ancient times, the three similar-looking characters "形" (xíng), "刑" (xíng), and "邢" (xíng) were often interchangeable, and the character "夭" (yāo) was also changed when it was written as "天" (tiān). During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, 陶渊明 (Táo Yuānmíng) changed it to "刑天", and later 罗泌 (Luó Mì) changed it to "邢天".The character “天” in oracle bone script and bronze script resembles a human head, meaning the top or summit. “刑天” means to cut off one's head. Originally an unnamed celestial deity, he then acquired the name Xing Tian after his head was beheaded.During the Song Dynasty, 《太平御览·卷三·妖异部》 "Taiping Yulan, Volume 3, Section on Strange and Mysterious Things" mentioned that after Xingtian was beheaded by the Yellow Emperor, his descendants formed the "Headless People" tribe.
Fanbinding: Three Oneshots with Chain stitch and Hot Foil
When I first tried fanbinding, I messed up the cases and had to redo them. That was a learning experience. XD But I didn't throw the botched cases away because I figured I might be able to use them for something one day, even if it was just to try out some stuff.
And I found a use for them! I'd wanted to try out a chain stitch tutorial I'd seen on SeaLemon's youtube channel for a thin book with just one signature and a nice stitch pattern on the spine. And when I got a set of hot foil pens, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to not just test that chain stitch but to also try for some hot foil titles!
Behold!
The fics are:
"Such a Warm Commotion" by @whetherwoman. A Fire Island fic.
"You, Asleep and Dreaming" by @megafaunatic (etymologyplayground). A The Untamed/MDZS fic.
"Something to Talk About" by @ziusik (vesna). A The Untamed/MDZS fic.
You can find all the links to the fics and the SeaLemon video in the notes!
Lots of pictures under the cut!
I struggled some with the sewing because I'd decided in my infinite wisdom that I wanted to use two threads instead of just one because I thought it look nicer. And it does look nice! But oh boy, do two threads cause some problems, like unexpected knots, wrapping around each other all the time etc. Still, I'm pleased with how it turned out!
I really enjoyed keeping up the New York theme for this Fire Island fic (highly recommended, awesome sequel to the movie!). Also, of course there needed to be rainbow colours! XD
I forgot to use initials for the beginning of the text in all three books, because I did the typesetting quite quickly and simply didn't remember to do something about it as I'd been fiddling around with the graphics for a while. XD Ah well, next time.
For etymologyplayground's fic, the hot foil doesn't stand out as clearly when the light doesn't hit it right. I don't know whether this is because of the ligh-tcoloured linen or because the foil wasn't exactly the best quality. Still, when the light hits it just right, it looks really cool!
The insides of the case don't always match perfectly to the rest of the colour design, but that's because I chose some papers that were either leftovers from other projects or ones from the thick design paper blocks I've got. It's serviceable.
I like how the design turned out otherwise here, with the illustration that I actually repeated at the end of the book, though I'm too lazy to take another picture. XD
I'm very pleased with the design of this one! The gold foil fits the cover so well (and I mean, I love that paper so much, anyway).
I like how Changyang's art works for the story that starts with WangXian travelling, and how the lotus picture illustrates the ending set in Yunmeng. I used a photography and send it through a hundred filters in PS. XD
Overall, I'm very pleased with how these books turned out, improvised though they were. I could try some new things and am so happy about the foil pens! So many more possibilities for making cover designs! I do have a few ideas already, but we'll see.
A Comparison of the Stairs Dialogue in CQL vs MDZS, Pt 1
(Pt 2)
A few introductory notes:
-This wasn't intended to be a big project post; I was just doing the comparison because I thought it was interesting. As I went I thought other people would probably find it interesting too, and it would be worth having it all written down, so I did turn it into a post after all. But I'm not really arguing any central point or anything; I'm really just comparing the dialogue and writing down my thoughts as I go.
-This also of course means my usual pro-JGY and consequently very annoyed at NMJ biases are on display. As ever, if this will upset you, please don't read!!
-This is a comparison of the text of the dialogue, not everything about their interaction; I don't necessarily note it if e.g. the acting doesn't match the dialogue tags in MDZS, or what have you.
-To do a proper comparison, you really need to compare the Chinese text, not the English translation; this is what I'm doing, though of course I've included the English from the Youtube subs, for CQL, and from the Exiled Rebels translation for MDZS. (For the Youtube subs I recorded "Yao" as A-Yao and used da-ge instead of Big brother when 大哥 was used and er-ge when 二哥 was used, just because this is my habit when copying down the dialogue.)
-Speaking of which: for MDZS, I just copied from the text, but for the CQL dialogue both English and Chinese I copied down the subs. I don't actually speak Chinese, but fortunately CQL on Youtube has the Chinese subs as well; my reading level in Chinese is also completely terrible, but I can often recognize most or many of the characters, and what I can't I can find by identifying radicals or drawing it in a handwriting recognition thing, etc. I did my best to be careful and thorough, and I also checked it against the Chinese subs I downloaded from Netflix, but there may still be some errors, fair warning. This also means that, unlike the Chinese from MDZS, the CQL Chinese dialogue isn't punctuated beyond spacing it out as it appeared on the screen; this is because the Chinese subs aren't punctuated, and I am certainly not going to make that judgement myself.
-The characters that differ in a given line between the MDZS and CQL versions are bolded, to help make the difference visually clear.
With that aside, the comparison is below the cut.
CQL
LXC: 阿瑶 大哥他心性不比从前 你千万不要再惹怒他了 他最近深受刀灵侵扰之苦 若不是你日日给他弹清心音的话 恐怕他 A-Yao. Da-ge's temperament is getting worse. Don't ever displease him again. He's been subject to the harassment of his blade lately. If you hadn't been playing Cleansing Music for him everyday, I'm afraid he'd be…
MDZS
LXC: 只是一时气愤，口不择言罢了。大哥现在心性不比从前， 你千万不要再惹怒他了。他最近深受刀灵侵扰之苦， 怀桑又和他争吵置气，到今天还没和好。 His anger was simply too great for him to have thought before speaking. Brother’s temper cannot compare to how it was in the past. You must not provoke him again. These past few days, he has been deeply troubled by the saber spirit, and HuaiSang has argued with him again. They still have not made up yet, even today.
I'm comparing the CQL dialogue to the equivalent dialogue in MDZS, but of course in MDZS this exchange isn't before the stairs in ch 49; rather it's part of a broader conversation NMJ hears before he bursts in to try and kill JGY on the spot, because he doesn't like how JGY is talking to LXC about him, in ch 50. (Note, incidentally, how obviously impossible this renders the task of not displeasing da-ge, even aside from his not being satisfied with anything less than Xue Yang's head, as JGY and LXC were having a private conversation at the time.) The mention of NMJ and NHS' falling out is removed, replaced with the information that JGY has been playing to MMJ "every day"; the reference to NMJ calling JGY son of a whore is of course removed, since it hasn't happened yet. One effect of this relocation is on our understanding of LXC's injunction not to "displease him again/provoke him again" (再惹怒他 in both). In MDZS, this seems to refer to the stairs incident where JGY talked back (as the text notes, unusually); here perhaps it might be read as suggesting that JGY somehow has a habit of avoidably displeasing NMJ, which I think is absurd.
However, that's not the only possible interpretation. Although CQL doesn't quite give us the scene mentioned in chapter 30, where NMJ shows up and lectures JGS into announcing XY would be executed (…and heaps abuse on JGY when he tries to intervene, terrifying JGY sufficiently that he hides behind LXC—observe that in the sentence immediately prior to this we are also told that NMJ had unsheathed his sabre), in episode 35 we are told that all the clans wanted to punish XY except for JGS, and given a brief flashback to JGS yelling. Therefore, I think, it's not unreasonable to assume that something like the scene described in ch 30 occurred in CQL. Perhaps LXC is referring to this, although of course JGY would still be held between the fatal opposition of NMJ's and his father's wishes.
It's also relevant of course that in removing the surrounding context, CQL removes the context of the conversation of JGY expressing his pain about how NMJ treats him, and LXC replying, and rather turns it into an apparently unprompted expression of concern on LXC's part.
CQL
NMJ: 金光瑶 Jin Guangyao!
MDZS
-
It's worth noting, I think, that in MDZS NMJ never refers to JGY as "Jin Guangyao" throughout the entire stairs encounter.
JGY: 二哥 劳烦你帮我再过一眼 百花宴贵宾的名单 我先去和大哥说点私事 回头再请你讲解 Er-ge, please check the list of guests of the Floral Banquet for me. I need to talk some private affairs with da-ge. I'll explain it to you later.
MDZS
JGY: 二哥劳烦你再帮我理一理这条，我先去和大哥说点私事，回头再请你讲解 Brother, could you please help me go through this one? I have some private matters to discuss with our eldest brother. I’ll have to ask for your explanation at a later time.
Interestingly the exact same sentence in the Chinese, 回头再请你讲解, is translated in CQL as JGY's promise to explain later—where the implication seems to be he'll explain about what he's discussing with NMJ, perhaps?—and in MDZS as JGY's intention to ask /LXC/ to explain (the work he's going over in JGY's absence) later. In MDZS, of course, they're working on the watchtowers…while in CQL host with the most LXC is /helping JGY put his banquet guest lists together/, omg. I wish they'd kept more about the watchtowers but I admit I enjoy this as well. They plan parties together!
In both CQL and MDZS NMJ tries to hit JGY after they are outside and before further words are exchanged.
CQL
JGY: 大哥 何必如此 有话好说 Da-ge. Why act like this? We can talk nicely, can't we?
MDZS
JGY: 大哥，何必如此，有话好说。 Brother, why the rage? Let’s calm down.
CQL
NMJ: 薛洋呢 Where is Xue Yang?
MDZS
NMJ: 薛洋呢 Where's Xue Yang?
CQL
JGY: 他已被关入地牢 终身不释 He's been shut up in the dungeon, for life time.
MDZS
JGY: 他已被关入地牢，终身不释…… He’s already been locked inside the dungeon, imprisoned for life…
CQL
NMJ: 我当年在不净世是怎么跟你说的 我要他血债血偿 你却给他来个终身不释 What did I tell you in the Yet Clean Realm at that time? I want him to pay his killing debts. You now give him life imprisonment.
MDZS
NMJ: 当初你在我面前是怎么说的 (JGY is silent) 我要他血债血偿，你却给他个终身不释？ What did you say to me back then? (JGY is silent) I wanted him to pay blood with blood, yet you have him imprisoned for life?
"What did you say to me back then" is interesting; we're not actually given a specific time or a specific thing said, which means we must speculate. An obvious candidate for 'back then' would be the ch 30 scene previously mentioned, when NMJ convinces the Jin to announce that they'll execute XY. Yet the Jin giving in on executing XY seems to come /after/ JGY is sufficiently frightened by NMJ that he hides behind LXC, "not daring to say anything else." NMJ is perhaps conflating JGY with JGY's father, or perhaps assigning to JGY an authority he does not in fact possess, as though JGY and not JGS was the person who made decisions for the Jin.
In CQL of course NMJ takes the position that /Jin Guangyao/ owes him obedience because Meng Yao used to be NMJ's servant—not even just that, but that Jin Guangyao must display obedience to orders NMJ gave several years ago, when JGY was MY. This is absurd and insulting, and even before NMJ actually calls him Meng Yao it demonstrates that NMJ does not actually recognize JGY's legitimacy /as/ Jin Guangyao. Honestly, I don't have the words.
CQL
JGY: 只要他受到惩罚 无法再犯 终身不释和血债血偿也并无 As long as he's punished, and can't recommit crimes, I can't see the difference between life imprisonment and death sentence.
MDZS
JGY: 只要他受到惩罚，无法再犯，终身不释与血债血偿也并无…… As long as he receives his punishment and can’t offend again, perhaps paying blood with blood and being imprisoned for life is…
CQL
NMJ: 我问你 当年在不净世 究竟是谁放走了薛洋 是我的总领 还是你 Tell me. When we were at Yet Clean Realm, who on earth released Xue Yang? It was my captain, or you?
MDZS
NMJ: 你举荐的好客卿，做出的好事情！事到如今你还敢袒护他！ The good things that the good guest cultivator whom you recommended has done! Things are already like this and you still dare defend him!
Imho, this gets to a central fault in the CQL XY storyline—why the heck is NMJ trying to have XY killed for the Chang killings, instead of for collaborating with the Wen and/or for killing a bunch of his men??????
I tend to put that aside because it doesn't… actually… make any sense at all, especially since CQL NMJ is quite clearly still preoccupied with XY's old crimes.
CQL
JGY: 我没有 我为什么要放走他 不过当初是当初 现在常萍已经翻供 没有任何明确证据证明 薛洋屠杀了常氏五十人 而我父亲又一定要留下这个人 It wasn't me. Why should I let him go? But the past is in the past, Chang Ping had withdrawn his confession. No certain evidence can prove that Xue Yang had massacred 50 people of Chang clan. And my father insists on keeping him alive.
MDZS
JGY: 我没有袒护他，栎阳常氏那件事我也很震惊，我怎会料到薛洋会杀了人全家五十多口人？可我父亲一定要留着这个人…… I didn’t defend him. I was also shocked by the case of the Changyang Yue Sect. How could I have known that Xue Yang would kill more than fifty people? But my father was set on keeping him…
So—I'm sorry, that in CQL Chang Ping has already withdrawn his testimony makes this completely absurd. In MDZS, that doesn't happen until /after/ NMJ's death, after the Jin have been hounding him! In CQL, the situation appears to be that they have officially condemned him to the dungeons for life /purely based on NMJ's pressure/, with no actual clear evidence at all—and note that unlike in MDZS, where the Chang killings happened like a month beforehand and XXC presents the evidence that it was XY to the assembled clans, in CQL the killings happened /several years ago before a war/ and Songxiao didn't present any evidence it was XY to anyone else at the time that we saw. I mean, they didn't need to because at the time he confessed when challenged,* but it's not at all clear to me what if any evidence is left! And—in this situation where the one surviving victim is publically saying it wasn't XY, and they're /still officially locking him up for life on NMJ's say-so/—NMJ thinks that JGY should nevertheless go and execute XY.
*To an audience that if I am not misremembering included JC, who was alive and a sect leader independent from NMJ and could presumably have been asked to testify at the trial. This doesn't seem to ever be mentioned, however. Again, the CQL XY subplot doesn't make a huge amount of sense.
I can only guess that they moved up the Chang Ping revokes his testimony timeline to emphasize Jin power? But to me it has almost the opposite effect, since if they're still locking XY up on NMJ's say-so it rather suggests /NMJ's/ power; and more to the point it makes NMJ's already frankly unreasonable demand completely and ludicrously absurd.
CQL
NMJ: 为什么 他身上还有一块阴铁你不知道吗 你把他重新招揽回来 究竟是为了什么你自己心里清楚 Why? Don't you know he's got a shard of Yin Iron on him? You're trying to reclaim him now. I can clearly see what you have in mind.
MDZS
NMJ: 震惊？招揽他的是谁？举荐他的是谁？重用他的是谁？少拿你父亲当幌子，薛洋在干什么，你会不知道吗？！ Shocked? Who was the one that invited him? Who was the one that recommended him? Who was the one that regarded him highly? Don’t use your father as excuse. How could you not have known what Xue Yang was doing?!
English of course doesn't distinguish between plural and singular second-person, but I think it's worth noting that NMJ is using singular here, 你, and not plural. This is true in both CQL and MDZS. In MDZS, I think the problem is that, although he is in fact referring to things JGY individually did, he refuses to accept the truth of JGY's position: that whatever JGY knew or did not know, he can't actually afford to kill XY if that's not what JGS wants. In CQL, by contrast, the problem is that he's locating the desire to obtain the Yin Iron specifically in JGY, despite JGS'…well, JGS' entire everything.
CQL
JGY: 大哥 真的是我父亲的命令 我无法拒绝 你现在要我处置薛洋 我该怎么去跟他交代 Da-ge, this is really my father's order. I couldn't deny. If you want me to execute Xue Yang now, in which way can I report this to him?
MDZS
JGY: 大哥，真的是我父亲的命令。我没法拒绝。你现在要我处置薛洋，你让我怎么跟他交代 Brother, it really was my father’s orders. I couldn’t refuse. Now, if you want me to take care of Xue Yang, what would I say to him?
The use of 你 vs the more formal 您 throughout this exchange is interesting. In their exchange before JGY goes outside with NMJ, he uses 你 for LXC; here, he uses 你 for NMJ, but you can see throughout the exchange he seems to use both. It would probably be very interesting to go through the text and observe which JGY uses, to whom, and when.
CQL
-
MDZS
NMJ: 不必废话，提薛洋头来见。 There’s no need for explanations. Come back to me with Xue Yang’s head in your hand.
CQL
—
MDZS
JGY "wanted to speak"
I think the upshot of these exchanges is much the same in CQL and in MDZS, despite its shortening in CQL: NMJ utterly rejects the validity of JGY's desire to give NMJ a /reason/ for going against JGS' explicit wishes, the explicit wishes, I remind you, of a man he has a moral duty to obey as his clan head and father. Truly, we can only imagine how NMJ would react to JGY killing someone against the wishes of the leader of the clan he served because he deserves it in JGY's own moral judgement… Except of course we don't have to imagine it, because it occurs in both CQL and MDZS, albeit differently. It's not that NMJ recognizes as a general principle that subordinates should be allowed to kill people against their leader's wishes if that subordinate judges their victim deserves it; it's simply that he believes in the primacy of his own, obviously righteous judgement. (And in CQL, again, there isn't any actual definite evidence, and Chang Ping has retracted his testimony.)
I think the main things the slightly more extended MDZS version has, not present in CQL, is, first, the explicit visual of XY's head, and second, that NMJ's subsequent response isn't a response to JGY's actual speech; JGY was about to speak in reply, and NMJ responds in irritation to what he thinks JGY is going to say—responds, indeed, by calling him 'Meng Yao'.
