Links Are Updated!

how to flirt with your crush 101: a guide by wei wuxian for anon 

MDZS Vol 5 Annotations 2

Part 2 of 6, pages 53 - 131

More annotations to help reading-flow! And another useless comment about another beautiful illustration.

JC is being disrespectful again, referring to LWJ as something akin to “that Lan guy.”

He is not talking to LWJ, but is instead complaining at Jin Ling.

More under the cut.

(Really? A GRE-vocab word here, where everything else is common-usage words?)

Yah… JGY isn’t supposed to have a right hand anymore by the time of this illustration…

As if LWJ would ever “call out” to anyone under less-than dire circumstances.

MDZS Masterlist.

All the Books I'm Annotating Masterlist.

The Husky and His White Cat ShiZun, volume FOUR 四

So, again, the translators Rynn and Jun have amazed me with their prowess. I have all of three notes for this entire volume, and two are just extra cultural background for kids who didn’t grow up in Chinese culture.

So, yah - Chu Wanning put this hand in the window frame, then he heard a crack sound, and then he realized that he had broken the window frame. Oops.

If you grow up around Chinese people, you might hear them talking about some foods being too cold or others being too hot, but they’re not talking about temperature, they’re talking about the effect of the food on the body.

And once you’ve lost your internal health-balance and are experiencing the negative effects of being too “hot,” you explain away your weird symptoms of not sleeping well, sore throat, acne, etc as being the result of eating too many chili peppers or chocolate muffins the day before.

It’s strange, but it all makes sense. Just eat your chocolate muffins in moderation.

If you watch enough period dramas, you see a lot of saluting, often but not always accompanied by a bend at the waist.

And in case you didn’t remember: -xiong means “brother.” Polite way to address a man of roughly even status.

Linktree

@purpletophat | Linktree

Linktree. Make your link do more.

And now I figure out where to hang my mermen and unicorn-man…

MDZS Vol 3 Annotations, part 3

Here is Part 3 of my annotations of MDZS Volume 3, pages 219-312. I hope it helps improve your reading experience!

(It's mostly cultural annotations and reminders of appropriately-untranslated words, with a few "remember when..." notes and a few re-translations of really thorny sentences that I admit have no good translation.)

(I had a field day writing "Good boy" over Jin Zixuan and "lame cousin" over JinZixun, but I didn't include all those notes here. Just be sure to pay attention to if Zixuan/Zixun has an "a" in it or not in Ch 15.)

(By the way, "Wintry Room" sounds really pretty in Chinese and not weird at all. Maybe "Winter Room" would be better?)

Hi! I just wanna say I think that your sharing notes on mdzs books are absolutely freaking cool!!!!! When I'll finally get my hands on the books can I copy your notes, please??

(Ps sorry for my english)

Please copy them! That’s what they’re for ♥️

I’m doing my first re-read of Mo Dao Zu Shi, and would like to complain very publicly to a sympathetic audience that I Don’t Want to Read Song Lan’s Death again. It hurt the first time I read it, the first time I heard it on Audio Drama, the first time I watched it on CQL. (Now I skip that chapter in Audio Drama). I don’t want to experience it again; but I’m over halfway through ch 40 already and can’t abandon WWX’s POV via A-Qing.

I’m just looking forward to Drunk Lan Zhan #2. The promise of Drunk Lan Zhan will get me through this. Yes.

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼

Volume 3, Notes 2/5, Pages 97 - 151

This was actually a really easy read, maybe because it's been almost a year since I last read this in Chinese and so I am not remembering awesome idioms every page; but, anyway! Here we continue <3

In case you don't already know， a huli jing 狐狸精 is a fox spirit. Famous for being super sexy.

In the online Chinese version I read, there was no actual mention of Gu Yun's movements, but more his mindset: 失魂落魄地走了 = "walked off in a daze". Because of the steel plates and all his injuries, I guess it was not a smooth "walking off" so much as a forlorn stumbling, but I don't like the word "hobbled" used on Gu Yun.

Chinese: "整日里便是在我耳边嘀咕." The meaning is the same as "yakking my year off," but it sounds much more elegant in Chinese, of course: "All day, is at the side of my ear, muttering / whispering / chatting quietly...”

Top: again, it just sounds better in Chinese. English is "like a house on fire," Chinese is "投缘" = "kindred spirits" or, broken apart, "thrown, fate."

Bottom: many official ceremonies are carried out with official, kneeling, head-to-floor bows. In this case, it will be an official ceremony to celebrate Ge Chen becoming Zhang Fenghan's adopted son.

(I love how Chang Geng never actually says "So! Ge Chen wants you to adopt him," but instead says a bunch of nice things to Master Fenghan, and Master Fenghan says some nice things back, and then Chang Geng concludes with "We'll call you with the date of the Adoption Ceremony. Bye!")

I love names in Chinese!

So, Du Wanquan is 杜万全， where

Wan 万 = 10,000 ("a very large number") and

Quan 全 = "complete, all", and

the two words together 万全 = absolutely safe / surefire / thorough （mdbg.net).

Good name for the God of Wealth, yah?

In case you don't remember, Zhong-lao is Old Master Zhong / General Zhong, who came out of retirement to help lead the forces in the South. He trained up both Gu Yun and, much later, Chang Geng.

"Speak of the Devil" in Chinese is "说曹操曹操就到."

曹操 Cao Cao was the king of Wei during the 3 Kingdoms Period (the very very beginnings of the 3 Kingdoms period).

Though I think in the actual story, Cao Cao actually saved a fellow ruler who had been thinking of asking him for help against an attack; but before the fellow could send out his messenger with the request, Cao Cao and his army suddenly appeared and crushed the attackers.

The translation is fine. I just feel like in the phrase 朝廷挤出点口粮实在不容易, using "must have" for the English just feels better.

"When a person hid their wounds WITH THEIR TWO HANDS so that none could see, no one had the right to pry AWAY their hands."

It all makes sense once you realize that the verb used here is 捂 wǔ = "to enclose / to cover with the hand (mdbg.net)."

脏癖 dirty habits/inclinations (because Liao Ran didn't like bathing）

My DanMei Literary Adventure Masterpost

Stars of Chaos - All Notes Links

病案本。Case File Compendium. 😢😢😭😭😭😭😭

There are still 60-some chapters left. Meatbun can’t just do this to her characters and then just… just… lead the crying fest for 60+ chapters, right? It has to get better eventually, right?

Right?!?

😭

“I named this cat Lan Zhan. Why? Because...whenever I say to him ‘Lan Zhan, it’s haishi*.’”

*haishi (亥时) - between 9pm and 11pm

(douyin)