hils | Reading

nnozomi posting in

部首
广 part 6
庭, hall/court; 康, healthy; 廊, hallway ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

语法
2.3 Uses of 还
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar

词汇
避，避免, avoid (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
你看我身体健康意志坚定, you see that I'm healthy and determined
我晚上还要备课, I still have to prepare for my classes this evening
如果你们真的想要避免大战，我可以给你们一条活路, if you really want to avoid a war, I can give you a way out

Me:
这是她的画廊。
你们的公司还在吗？

maggie33

ClaireBell episode 6

Yeah, that was what I expected. It didn’t make it less hard to watch. I even had to fast-forward a little bit, because I just couldn’t look at the screen.

More with spoilers here.

I identified with Claire so much in this episode. I’m an older sister, and what Claire did I would do in a heartbeat, too. I would exchange my life for my sister’s without even a moment of hesitation. I almost cried again because it made me so emotional.

I really need a happy ending for this drama. I hope both Bell and Claire will be released from prison. And it seems that this is what will happen. I think the creepy teacher’s sister will find out what her brother did to Cream. She now has Cream’s phone. And if I’m no mistaken they showed that Cream’s phone was recording when the teacher assaulted her. I can’t check it to be sure, because I’m not watching that scene ever again.

In kdrama news I dropped Moon River. I enjoyed it for the first six episodes, it was amusing and entertaining, but when the bodyswap ended the plot started being really convoluted and ridiculous, and not in a good way. And I lost interest very quickly. It took me three days to watch the 8th episode, and after that I decided that I don’t care at all what happens next.

But two other kdramas made it up to me for that disappointment. One of them is Dynamite Kiss that I only started watching because I read that my beloved Nam Goong Min will have a cameo in one episode. I watched two episodes and I liked them a lot. It’s lovely, funny, and mostly fluffy and I can watch it in the evening.

Because I definitely can’t watch a second kdrama in the evening. I’m talking about The Price of Confession – that dark thriller, which trailer I posted about a month ago. I started it two days ago and I’ve already watched four episodes. It’s very good. Very dark and intense (and a bit too gory for me sometimes, so twice I had to close my eyes for a moment or two), and Kim Go Eun is fantastic. And she looks absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to watch more tomorrow.

And in fanfic writing news I finished the first draft of my Yuletide treat. Yay, me! 😊 And I posted my new Big Dragon fic.

Sweet surrender (2339 words)
Fandom: มังกรกินใหญ่ | Big Dragon the Series (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mangkorn Akira Chitsanupongkul/Yai Alangkan Singhawatthanachok
Characters: Yai Alangkan Singhawatthanachok, Mangkorn Akira Chitsanupongkul
Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Dom/sub, Possessive Behavior, Spanking, Begging, Coming Untouched, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex
Summary:

Mangkorn has that look in his eyes. Yai recognizes it so well - this is the look Mangkorn has when he wants Yai’s surrender and Yai’s obedience.

It’s in Mangkorn’s voice, too, when he whispers “Undress” into Yai’s ear.

Yai takes his clothes off with shaking hands, desire lying heavy in his stomach, its flames getting stronger under Mangkorn’s hot and possessive gaze.

adore posting in

c_ent

I recently watched this gorgeous C-pop performance.

Watch on YouTube

He's so charmingly expressive. Someone in the comments said 'elegance of a noble with the playfulness of a youth' and that's absolute BARS.

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
广 part 5
废, waste; 度, to pass/degree (of temperature); 座, seat/counter for large things ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

词汇
毕业, graduation; 毕业生, a graduate ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
你少废话，快点, cut the bullshit and hurry up
你这么忙，连参加孩子毕业典礼的时间都没有, you're so busy you don't even have time to attend your kid's graduation ceremony?

Me:
在那座山顶温度很低。
你毕业以后这样会做研究生吗？

shadaras

ah yes I should show y'all a picture of my precious darling tucked into the couch blanket <3 (sometimes she is ENTIRELY UNDER this blanket and I send a photo of a round lump to my friends and helpfully label it "catte".)

( cat photo under cut )

tinny

The rounds at

icons10in20 are rare and always fun! This one is round 41, and it took me much longer than I thought, especially the icons that ended up being Kpop Demon Hunter icons. I'd been planning on making a whole Wu Lei set again, but those steadfastly refused. :D I hope you like the set!

Teasers:

( 10 icons, most from Wu Lei, the rest from Kpop Demon Hunters )

Every single comment is treasured. All icons shareable! Concrit welcome. Check out my resource post for makers of textures and brushes I use.

Previous icon posts:

dancing_serpent posting in

c_ent

Welcome to Topic Tuesday! Right away I want to stress that discussion posts are always welcome to the community, you don't have to wait until a Topic Tuesday rolls around, and then maybe be disappointed by the current topic of discussion. Whenever you want to talk about something, please simply make a separate entry to this comm, no matter the week, the time, or the topic. All right? *g*

Today's topic is Your Highlight(s) of the Year. 2025 is almost over, so let's take a moment to look back. What were your highlights of the year? Which drama/movie/novel was your favourite, or made the year memorable for you? Did you fall in love with a new actor or singer? Or find a new song/piece of music that seems stuck in your head on an endless loop? Go into detail as much or as little as you like, and leave links if you want.

As usual, if you want to talk about spoilers, please use one of these codes to hide them.

or

hannah

Waiting for the traffic light, listening to the noise around me, I looked down and saw a dog - one that was shaped like an actual dog, with short black fur, a proper nose, bright eyes, and a remarkable amount of patience for being so quiet in the face of all the noise. Cars, trucks, horns, traffic all around, a cement mixer driving by that whined and gave off these weird high-pitched noises as the mixer turned, and I thought that if it was loud for me, it must be unbearable for her. She was very well-trained in leash work and boundaries, and as well-trained and well-adjusted as she was, it made me think: New York City isn't good for her.

She was mostly quiet, except for one point where she made something like a whine mixed with a whimper. I told her, "I don't blame you." But I don't think she heard me what with all the noise around us.

At the next corner, I complimented her behavior on who I thought was her owner; she said she was just the walker, and the dog's name was Kato, and she was impressed at her, too. I didn't ask to pet her, just looked at her, watching a little kid ask if she could pet Kato herself instead. I thought about how her owners needed to commission a walker's services, and how it could be a brief thing due to a family emergency or it could be a standing commitment, and knowing Manhattan, it's likely the latter. It still strikes me as strange to keep an animal like a dog as a pet in a big city, and looking at her today, it feels even stranger. I walked across the park and listened to the sounds of the vehicles and thought about how unpleasant I found it, and how the city isn't designed for auditory comfort. It could be, and it isn't, and it saddened me to think how much worse Kato must have things.

Current Mood: cynical
Current Music: nothing now

shadaras

okay, some updates while I'm thinking about it at all:

1.
I never did say that I did get my ears repierced, did I xD But I did! It's been like a month! The piercer was like "so, let's just re-open those old holes, I bet they're still fine, just maybe a little finicky", and she was correct. A lot easier to heal from something that's just expanding old scar tissue than making a new hole in the body, obviously, which is good because tbh I wasn't excited about tending to a new wound.

So I can wear ear shinies now! I need to acquire more of them, especially more interesting studs that I can wear during work/aikido. xD Dangly earrings are pretty but inconvenient when doing very physical stuff.

she was ALSO like "you have skinny earlobes!" and I was like "uh?" and she was cheerfully like "this means that even the tiniest studs I have are going to be a little loose on you and the average stud will be noticeably loose" (true, btw) and then "do your ears get cold particularly easily?" (no, actually, they don't?). It was all very "this is not a body part I think about the variance in very often but yeah someone who does body mods/piercings sure would have thoughts about this!". xD

2.
The heater in our dojo, which has been dying for years, has finally given up the ghost. Considering that our dojo barely breaks even most of the time, uh, not good to need to replace that in the middle of winter. We shall see how paying for that ends up working, considering that it only broke like last Friday and we only got someone to look at it today, and they haven't provided a specific estimate yet (just a rough ballpark upon identifying the failed part). Fun times!

3.
It is WINTER and COLD now.

...yeah that's about it.

This does mean my cat will paw at the blanket I keep on my couch and then curl up in expectation that I shall Tuck Her In, which is absolutely adorable of her. <3

4.
I finished my Yuletide draft and made eyes at a friend who also knows the canon to beta-read it, so I don't need to worry about that until they get back to me. I had a lot of fun doing canon review for this one! One of those canons where I didn't have any particular ideas but did think it'd be fun to write for someone who had some prompts/thoughts about it, and: I was right!

5.
Talked to my dad yesterday about family and life and books, and it's very funny how at once I got so much of my taste in books from him and how much more willing he is to read moderately shitty epic fantasy than I am. Admittedly, this may just be a factor of age and that he grew up reading more stuff in that genre (by which I mean: Male Gaze Power Fantasy) than I did, and so has way more tolerance for it than I do. He's perfectly happy to read whatever else I place in front of him! And he enjoys it! He just also reads these. xD

6.
god, idk, did I have other things to say

work is work. it's fine. I would like more sleep. whatever.

7.
I'm still somehow keeping up with Critical Role: Araman? I zone out of combat (normal) but this mostly just means that I'm willing to listen to that while doing other things even moreso than the more story-centric content that I'll listen to while driving or doing dishes etc. I think the part I enjoy most is that they're doing multiple tables and focusing on one table at a time, but the opening scene for each episode is from one of the other groups, a teaser of what they're getting up to/going to be doing when the focus switches to them.

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
广 part 4
店, shop; 庙, temple; 府, seat of government ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

语法
2.2 Uses of 都
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar

词汇
比分, score; 对比, contrast ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
那天在电子商店，你是不是想送我什么东西啊, was there something you wanted to give me the other day in the electronics store?
姑娘，我们都是从地星来的, Miss, we're all from Dixing
[no 比分 or 对比]

Me:
他们住在那座破寺庙。
比赛后最主要的不是比分。

tinny

Mount TBR 2025 Book(s) #05* Murderbot 1-4

Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells
Murderbot Diaries #1-#4

SecUnit, a human-machine hybrid, is owned by an evil megacorporation, but it has hacked its own system so it can now do what it wants. It's mostly bored by its job and the boring humans it has to protect, so spends most of its time watching tv shows instead. Over time, it grows emotionally, and gets attached to its favorite clients, despite itself.

Murderbot has always been a wonderful first-person narrator. Very unreliable, my favorite, very snarky, also my favorite, and addicted to tv shows, very relatable. :D

I had read the first novella years ago and then never continued because I found them too expensive. But now that there's a tv adaptation, I wanted to reread, and so I borrowed the first four from a friend and read them all in one go.

thoughts - not very spoilery, I think? Y'all have read them all already anyway, right?

* Man how I love murderbot. I already did the first time I read the first novella, and the three other ones have only deepened that impression. Although of course it's not the easiest to live with. Or like Arada (or was it Pin-Lee? I keep confusing those two) says in book 4: "I'd forgotten what an asshole you are." :D

* When I read the first book, I always thought of murderbot as female - for no other reason than that it's a fan of tv shows, like me (and everyone else I know). Androgynous/non-binary would have been better. The tv adaptation now looks very male. I guess the truth is somewhere in the middle.

* Mensah is just such a sweet character (maybe a bit too ideal, but oh well). No wonder murderbot imprinted on her so much. <3

* I liked all the progressions from "I hacked the weapons scans" to "now I have experience in hacking surveillance and scans and I can do several of them at once" and "I couldn't have gotten through this security check a while ago".

* I love how a lot of the characters are women, and sometimes not specifically mentioned. The two security guards in book 3 for example, which I'd originally pegged as male, but it's revealed late in the book that they're both female.

* I loved ART. Awesome smart, nerdy, and arrogant character, which I would love to meet again (and so would murderbot, I think, even if it claims otherwise).

* To me, the physical changes that ART makes to murderbot (to make it blend in and not look so much like a secunit) sounded like it changed its hairstyle to something more female-looking. It's never actually stated outright, but I liked the idea.

* Through all the novellas, murderbot's voice stays funny and snarky, but small changes are noticeable and I love how it grows, not only in technical skill but also emotionally. It still needs to be dragged into saving its people sometimes, but somehow it does it of its own accord, and I love both.

5 stars - Wonderful unreliable narration, great worldbuilding, neuro-atypical characters galore

1 - 5 stars - Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky The Final Architecture #1 [DW link]
2 - 2 stars - Miss Merkel: Mord auf dem Friedhof by David Safier Miss Merkel #2 [DW link]
3 - 4 stars - Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire Toby Daye #10 [DW link]
4 - 1 star - Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin [DW link]
5 - 5 stars - Murderbot Diaries 1-4 by Martha Wells [DW link]

emrinalexander

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
巾 part 6
常, always; 幅, width; 幕, curtain/screen ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=50
干
干, to do/foster/dry; 平, flat/even; 年, year; 并, and/to merge; 幸, fortunate ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=51
幺/乡
幺, the youngest; 乡, hometown; 幻, fantasy; 幼, young; 幽, remote ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=52
广 parts 1-3
广, wide; 庄, village; 庆, to celebrate; 庇, to protect/to cover; 床, bed; 序, order/sequence; 库, warehouse; 应, should/to answer; 底, bottom/end
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

语法
1.13 Uses of 了
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-1-grammar
1.14 去 + (place) + (action)
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-1-grammar
2.1 Uses of 多
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar

词汇
抱 to hold/to hug; 背景, background; 倍, times; 被迫, to be compelled; 本科, undergraduate (course); 笨, stupid
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

玩玩
Three versions of 逃亡: the original Stefanie Sun, Wu Qingfeng (from 2019, kind of baby) and Jiang Dunhao and friends.

冷死我了，进被窝容易起床难。大家过得怎么样？别感冒了啊。

trobadora posting in

sid_guardian

Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purple sky with stars. Text reads, "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid_guardian.dreamwidth.org"

Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!

Episode 7, from 24:30

Summary: The SID finds Lai Su's house and confronts him. He reveals that someone promised him fame and fortune if he published webnovels, and he kept at it despite knowing about the murders. Lin Jing is disappointed and furious at his idol. Lai Su writes a final chapter to end his webnovel career, and ends up dying his character's death. Zhu Jiu tries to break into the SID and discovers the black energy shield. And Zhao Yunlan visits Shen Wei to talk about the case. Shen Wei is very touched that he sympathises with a Dixingren.

Quote:

Lin Jing: "If you can't take responsibility for every word you write, you don't deserve to be called an author. You don't even deserve to be called a person!"

Detail:

Lin Jing describes the final chapter of the webnovel with the monster's death as follows: "He was engulfed by guilt for his many crimes. In the end, his own reflection in a lake scared him to death."

Since we actually see the text of the chapter on screen, I thought it'd be fun to plug the screencaps into Google Translate - here's the result:

mobile version | desktop version

Questions:

Do you have a favourite line in in this half of the episode? What do you think about Lin Jing's angry words to Lai Su? How great is Lai Su's house? Any parallels between this case and the drama's overall plot? Any parallels with the novel you can think of? Why is Zhu Jiu only now discovering the SID's shield? What's your favourite part of the final scene between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan?

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

And here is our schedule for the next batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
广 part 3
库, warehouse; 应, should/to answer; 底, bottom/end ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

词汇
笨, stupid (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
既然我答应过赵云澜要照顾你，我就一定会好好把你带回去, since I promised Zhao Yunlan I'd take care of you, I have to bring you home safe
笨蛋，闭嘴！ shut up, idiot!

Me:
我们应该把仓库收拾一下。
我怎么这么笨，真服了。

tinny

I was pretty diligent about writing down things in November, apparently:

( 21 things I learned in November )

dancing_serpent posting in

c_ent

The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or

shadaras

Got this from some friends who Do Tumblr, but xD it's fun to pull these over here!

Fanfic End-of-the-Year Asks [I mean, COMMENTS here, really, but. you know.]

favorite fic you wrote this year
least favorite fic you wrote this year
favorite line/scene you wrote this year
total number of words you wrote this year
most popular fic this year
least popular fic this year
longest completed fic you wrote this year
shortest completed fic you wrote this year
longest wip of the year
shortest wip of the year
fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year
favorite character to write about this year
favorite writing song/artist/album of this year
a fic you didn’t expect to write
something you learned this year
fic(s) you completed this year
fics you’ll continue next year
current number of wips
any new fics to start next year
number of comments you haven’t read
most memorable comment/review
events you participated in this year
fics you wanted to write but didn’t
favorite fic you read this year
a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read
number of favorites/bookmarks you made this year
favorite fanfic author of the year
longest fic you read this year
shortest fic you read this year
favorite fandom to read fic from this year

I ~only~ posted 43 works this year (not counting whatever else gets posted for end of year exchanges, etc), which is at once a lot and not as many as in recent years.

So yeah, have at!

(perhaps I'll post a Real Entry at some point, but for now: hey, I'm around, have a meme.)

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
广 part 2
庇, to protect/to cover; 床, bed; 序, order/sequence ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=53

语法
2.1 Uses of 多
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar

词汇
本科, undergraduate (course) (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
那你好好在床上躺着, lie down on the bed
只要你多看多听多学，你自然就懂得多了, you just need to watch, listen and learn a lot to understand more naturally
[no 本科]

Me:
你的程序有问题啊，来除错一下。
本科的时候你不会学习这种内容。

nanila

If you had to participate in one Olympic event, what would it be and why?

Curling. It looks delightful. And there's no way I'm running long distances, contorting myself into weird shapes, flinging heavy things, or hurling myself off high platforms.
What is the one song you always sing along to?

Just one? There are loads. I have no shame. The ones I belt out loudest are Evanescence “Bring Me To Life”, Joan Jett's “I Love Rock n Roll”, and Guns n Roses “Paradise City”.
Do you wear a seatbelt in the car?

I'm sorry, what?! Apart from this being the law, I don't want to die or suffer horrific disfigurement from being in an accident, the chances of which wearing a seat belt has been exhaustively demonstrated to reduce.

So yes, I do wear a seat belt in the car. Always.
Car, SUV or truck and why?

I favour a car. Preferably something small and fast. I like being able to accelerate quickly, and the less time I have to spend getting from A to B, the better. Much as I enjoy going fast, I also find long drives really damn boring.
Are you a good/bad driver? Explain.

I think I'm okay. I had to pass the UK driving test, which is legendarily difficult, and it definitely made me a better driver. I'm careful about keeping my distance and I always make sure I'm well rested when I get behind the wheel.

Profile

hils

Hils's journal

Reading

第四年第三百三十六天

ClaireBell, kdramas and fanfic writing

Liu Yu's live performance of "The Witty Gallant's Playful Matchmaking"

第四年第三百三十五天

(no subject)

10 multifandom icons for icons10in20

Topic Tuesday - Your Highlight(s) of the Year

Animal encounter.

(no subject)

第四年第三百三十四天

Book #05* Murderbot Diaries 1-4 by Martha Wells

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

第四年第三百三十三天

Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 7, part 2

第四年第三百三十二天

Things learned in November

Weekly Chat

(no subject)

第四年第三百三十一天

The Friday Five on a Friday

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