susannaoh

Week 4 of Be a Goldfish is underway!

WEEK FOUR: An Oldie But a Goodie Halfway there, living on a prayer! Harken back and create a work for your first-ever fandom. What piece of media was the first to spark that special something? Share with the class: perhaps a gifset to demonstrate the appeal of a childhood classic, an essay which extrapolates on the meta you’ve been considering for years, or a craft to connect with your inner fannish child.

I debated about what I wanted to consider my 'first fandom,' but ultimately decided it's got to be Star Trek. A CLASSIC!

[A Story About Star Trek: I used to watch the original Star Trek with family when I was little, and I pretty much never had any idea what was going on. I have since realized that the 'I have no idea what's going on' experience is actually super common for kids, regardless of what they're watching. Which is so interesting to me! I never realized how much 'how to watch a show/movie' and 'how storytelling works' is ALSO something you learn as you get older. Like, it seems obvious to me NOW, but for many years it was not.)

marcicat

it started with a whisper, by gurlsrool

Scott: I’ve been getting asked if it’s me. I considered denying but if we all deny and one person doesn’t, that sort of gives their identity away and I’m not sure they want that.

Bennett: I mean they could lie if they really wanted to?

Scott: That could backfire if the truth ends up coming out somehow though

Baldwin: I don’t have to deny shit, everyone forgot I exist, so ha

Ilya: Everyone thinks is me. My agent asked if I want to comment too

Scott: Wait, it's not you?

starandrea

Happy birthday

marcicat!!!!!!!! You are my favorite person in the world and I hope you have the best and sparkliest year yet ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I was trying to think of a fic rec I don't know for sure you've already read, and it was not easy! I have likely not succeeded, but I thought the excerpt was funny enough to be worth it regardless.

♥ Pre-Existing Condition, by Helenish

“Isn’t this fraud?” Matt says. He’s inspecting the card again, who knows what’s so interesting about it, just John’s name at the top next to SUBSCRIBER NAME: and then a neat row of lines at the bottom under DEPENDENTS: SPOUSE Farrell M; CHILD McLane L; CHILD McLane J.

“Oh, right, I forgot what a law-abiding citizen you were,“ John begins, “You can do whatever you want because you’re a fucking anarchist—“

“—Democrat, but okay—“

“but god forbid I should ever—“ the argument clicking along down the old familiar track—except Matt laughs.

“Fine, man, you got me. I only have one leg. What do you want for dinner?”

marcicat

It's Cake For Breakfast Day!

“A cross dimensional tracker, really?”

The faceplate flipped back down. “Yeah, well, it’s on a timer, so brace yourself. There better be some cake left when we get back.”

“You’ve been eating my cake without me?”

“Man, it’s been your birthday all day. We had cake for breakfast. You should’ve been there. Next year, all right?”

“Next year.”

(from Monday All Day Long)

starandrea

Speaking of AI, I just gave google translate an image description to spellcheck, and it added a definition of "guqin" to the English translation of my Chinese alt/title text.

Original Chinese: 一个非乐高积木的瀑布，旁边有魏无羡迷你任务和蓝忘机站在一起。魏无羡有他的笛子，蓝忘机有他个古琴。

Google Translate's English: A waterfall made of non-Lego bricks, with mini-figures of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji standing next to it. Wei Wuxian has his flute, and Lan Wangji has his guqin (a Chinese zither).

I deleted "guqin" to see what would happen and no lie, google translate added "(the sentence ends abruptly)".

(Will it be years or months, I wonder, before this post will sound hilariously dated?)

(...Or weeks?)

starandrea

Our work computers periodically become outdated and are replaced, which is greatly appreciated and less disruptive with every iteration, as cloud backups and connectivity proliferate. In the spring of 2020, I went home with two six-year-old laptops.

(In defense of my department, they had been encouraging me to upgrade for at least a year, and I resisted because the technology worked fine. I didn't see a need for new if old was doing the job.)

By fall one computer was no longer compatible with company security, and IT sent me a new one that combined everything I needed from both old computers. But we were in the process of moving from one campus to another (a process hugely extended by the pandemic) so the old computers went nowhere.

My point is that when IT upgraded my computer again this week, and they invited me (now a remote worker) to campus to pick up the new one, I brought them three old ones in trade and a whole lot of memories.

Even after my previous department became remote in 2020, we were required to attend a variety of in-person events from client meetings to company all-staffs. In the depths of my three laptop bags I found parking receipts, boarding passes, Chinese readers and snacks, along with masks - so many masks - hand sanitizer, and a note from a deceased coworker about the name of one of my laptops.

It's hard to believe it's been six years. It's also strange to me personally that the time between going home and starting my current job - four entire years - has largely disappeared from daily recall. I remember working with my previous department, on-site, for 18 years. And I remember working with my current department, remotely, for the last two.

Everything in between: the years between 2020 to 2024, from going remote to moving house to saying goodbye to Mimi, all still exists in my memory, but it's largely unmoored from the rest of the timeline. It's neither "now" nor "then," but some secret third option that my brain initially skips over when looking back, somehow assigning those years to a parallel life track rather than a sequential one.

I wonder if it will settle into place as life goes on, if life goes on (thanks body, I appreciate you), or if it will remain disconnected, like the semester I spent teaching at a residential school during the fall of 2001.

Memory is so interesting. I try to let experiences change me in the moment as much as possible and desirable, so I get more out of them than thinking of (or forgetting) them later.

And being kind, of course. The most important connection to any experience.

“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

~Etienne de Grellet,
Quaker missionary

marcicat

Approximately once a year, work events conspire to arrange themselves so that I feel compelled to wear something other than a hoodie or t-shirt to show up in. (Usually meeting with outside vendors. There's no official dress code, but I generally try to hit the 'neither most formally nor least formally dressed' sweet spot.)

(PS: Yesterday one of the vendors wore suit pants, but with like, an ath-leisure top? This was distressingly similar to what I wore (non-jeans pants and a company-branded zip-up jacket). I say distressingly because the vendor immediately pinged my 'I do not like this person' sensor, AND we wound up sitting next to each other. I'd like to claim I pulled the outfit off better than they did, but who knows. I can say for sure that mine had more cat fur on it, and at least that's something.)

ANYWAY the original point of this post is that I have approximately two outfits that meet these incredibly vague 'looks like I tried but not too hard' standards, so it's a good thing we only have two days of meetings per week. Tomorrow: RETURN TO HOODIES.

starandrea

My workplace requires the use of LLM as AI, so I pay particular attention to how it comes up in my hobbies. Every day is a chance to learn more than I knew before.

Will AI replace Chinese teachers | Chinese podcast #184, by Dashu Mandarin 大叔中文

Ben: I don't think I'll be replaced by AI; I'll be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI.
Richard: You'll be replaced by PeiPei.
PeiPei: Follow me!
Richard: If you can't beat them, join them, right?

Ben: 我是觉得呃我不会被AI取代但是我会被会AI的。
Richard: 你会被珮珮取代。
PeiPei: 跟着我干吧！
Richard: 对打不过就加入是吧？

marcicat

Be A Goldfish WEEK 3: Don't Dodge the Draft!

Here's the part that was finished back in 2020, when I remembered who all the characters were in Guardian:
Night Letters

And then there were about 72 more words that I'm sure I had some sort of a plan for, but that plan has long since been forgotten. So I kept those words (okay, not always in that EXACT order) and wrote some more!

Here's the actual Be a Goldfish Week 3 part:

Morning Calls

"I have no idea what's happening," he said. Da Qing snorted a laugh, and Zhao Yunlan spun to look at him. "Damn Cat, what do you know?"

"Me? What would I, the Deputy Chief of the SID, King of the Cats, know about anything?"

starandrea

LLM as AI is everywhere in the language-learning space, from chatbot "tutors" to my favorite prompt: "Tell me about this story in another language." So I'm learning, as they say, through immersion.

Here's what NotebookLM produced when I asked for its basic "deep dive" on "The Untamed," using only the episode transcripts as a source. It makes mistakes, but I was particularly interested in what it identified as important and why.

Also, it was unexpectedly funny.

(This is actually a Turboscribe transcript of the podcast NotebookLM produced; I've labeled the speakers "Host 1" and "Host 2.")

( notebooklm analyzes the Untamed scripts: reputation vs reality )

marcicat

Heck yeah, birthday week! Today's birthday gift (to me, from me) will be trying to post my be a goldfish week three challenge fic!

(So far I have reached the stage of 'I don't want to look at this anymore,' so it's definitely getting close to finished!)

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 9, from 22:52:

Summary: Everyone arrives at Qingxi village. Outside the guesthouse, Xiao-Guo finds a skull, and Wang Zheng explains her tribe's customs, disguised as rumours she's heard. A villager in a mask and wig tries to scare them away; the village head explains that a guard was murdered two days ago and everyone's wary of outsiders. He takes Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong to the crime scene. They see a light and explore further, and Zhao Yunlan reveals he has the Sundial with him when it starts resonating. Zhu Jiu tells the Hanga tribesmen to kill Wang Zheng, blaming her for their being trapped by the Awl, and they attack the guesthouse. Wang Zheng tries to sacrifice herself, but no one will let her. Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong arrive, and she has to take the gun from him and fire herself because he's paralysed by flashbacks of his mother's death. At night, Wang Zheng leaves on her own and goes into the mountain. Zhu Jiu is pleased - it's all going according to his plan.

Quote:

Zhao Yunlan to Wang Zheng: "See, what do I keep telling you? Don't keep dieting all the time, being skinny isn't good for you!"

Detail:

This episode gives us an update for who was in which car when! I'll put all of it here for completeness' sake, even though it includes stuff from the first half of the episode:

1st leg (Dragon City to car breakdown):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Zhao Yunlan (driving), Da Qing (passenger seat), Wang Zheng and Zhu Hong in the back
Other SID car: Chu Shuzhi (driving), Lin Jing (passenger seat), Guo Changcheng in the back
University group car: not shown, but presumably Xiao-Quan driving since he assumes he'll drive after the breakdown

2nd leg (car breakdown to checkpoint):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Lin Jing (driving), Zhu Hong (passenger seat), Wang Zheng and Guo Changcheng in the back
Other SID car: not seen, but must be Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing
University group car: Zhao Yunlan (driving), Shen Wei (passenger seat), Jiajia and Xiao Quan in the back

3rd leg (checkpoint to Qingxi village):

Zhao Yunlan's jeep: Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng, Zhu Hong, Wang Zheng (shown waiting at Qingxi village when the other two cars arrive)
University group car: until the jacket-sharing stop, Lin Jing (driving), Jiajia (passenger seat), Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan in the back. After the stop, not shown. (We do see all of the above plus the village head after they got out, but that's not conclusive.)
Other SID car: not shown, though it arrives behind the university car, and there's a shot with a blurry Da Qing in the background, outside on the passenger side. (If the village head did ride with all the others, the third car was Da Qing and Xiao-Quan only, and maybe Xiao-Quan got to actually drive for this leg! *g*)

Questions: What's your favourite bit in this half-episode? Which SID character gets the best moment? When Shen Wei questions Wang Zheng, how much does he already know about her? Would you like to go on a field trip with Shen Wei, even though he might end up hypnotising you? Do you sympathise with the villagers? Is speechifying Zhu Jiu's greatest talent? If you've read the novel, any thoughts on about how the drama compares?

(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!)

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

starandrea

I started learning Chinese in the Arisia registration line seven years ago this weekend. I gave myself five years to figure out how hard it would be, and another five to be able to use it. By the end of this year, I'll be more than halfway through the second five years.

I'm pretty sure I'll spend the rest of my life learning Chinese. It's more than a language to me; it's a fundamentally different way of looking at the universe. At the end of the day we're all more alike than different, and I care a lot about the stories we tell. Language is a filter and a tool that lets us share each other's perspectives.

Chinese storytelling is different from English storytelling in part because it's based on different assumptions about why we're here, where "here" even is, what happens before and after this life, and who and what we share it with.

Experiencing this is like sneaking a whole second life into my time here on Earth. So efficient. So exciting.

In conclusion,
♥ Today is "one day," and there's no guarantee of another one like it.

♥ Do what you want to get good at: it's the best practice and great motivation. Plus you get to do the thing, why wait?

♥ As Marci says, "five years" is going to pass anyway. Let's make them interesting.

( notes from Arisia 2019: 'writing outside your comfort zone' )

facethestrange posting in

sid_guardian

All fics: 3x drama, 1x novel, 1x rpf. :) (There were also other Guardian and Guardian-adjacent works created for

fandomtrees, including but not limited to gifts I received, so check out the collection. :D)

The Arrangement (604 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Alternate Black-Cloaked Envoy | Hei Pao Shi Identity Reveal, Early in Canon, but vaguely after episode 8, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Summary: "If I had never met you, I'd say that Hei Lao-ge is far more than I would ever deserve. And he is, but I have met you, and—"

Shen Wei swallows, and Zhao Yunlan feels the sudden need to backpedal. "I don't mean that I would propose to you right now. I just wish we had more time."

Twice (331 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: set between the Envoy reveal and the time loop reveal, Secrets, Reveals, Tenderness, Kissing
Summary: "Shen Wei-ah... Have we really met before?"

I'll Do It (313 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ye Zun & Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei & Ye Zun & Zhao Yunlan, Background Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Ye Zun (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Ye Olde Haixing Era, Hair Braiding, Trauma Recovery, Ye Zun is rescued and safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Friendships, LanZun can be read as pre-relationship or platonic
Summary: "Gege did this for me," Ye Zun says, trying to sound offhanded but clearly gauging Zhao Yunlan's reaction. "I bet he has never done anything like this for you."

For Now (343 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen San/Shen Wei (Guardian), Da Qing & Shen San & Shen Wei (Guardian)
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Shen San (Guardian), Da Qing (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Domestic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Bittersweet, Not-So-Accidental Cat Acquisition
Summary: "Yao-xiong, look what I found! This little fellow just followed me home, I couldn't possibly say no."

Skilled (344 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Interview, Implied Sexual Content, Light-Hearted, Long-ge has many skills that occasionally make Bai Yu distracted and one-track-minded, Established Relationship
Summary: A thousand thoughts per second cross Bai Yu's mind, none of them relevant— No, most of them are extremely relevant. Alas, none of them are appropriate during a live interview.

marcicat

I haven't actually written anything since... ::checks notes:: last November, which now feels approximately 800 years ago.

But yeah, this process seems familiar:

STEP 1: write a sentence
STEP 2: this is going great! 1000 words? I've got this
STEP 3: get distracted
STEP 4: it's been three hours and I still only have one sentence, this is going terribly
STEP 5: maybe I should come back to it tomorrow?
STEP 6: okay, focus, I can do this, right? maybe just try to write ONE SENTENCE

And then repeat from the beginning!

I'm currently stalled out at 650ish words. ::tempts myself back towards the fic tab with cookies:: Maybe just ONE SENTENCE?

marcicat

In a work meeting on Thursday, I mentioned that my 'big weekend plans' were taking down the Christmas decorations. This was met with mostly silence (very expected in a morning teams call), and then one of the other people in the meeting said, "You still have Christmas decorations up?"

And my reactions were basically:

1) lol I do not think they intended that to be as hilariously judge-y as it sounded

2) it hasn't even been one (1) month since Christmas???

3) it's winter? in New Hampshire? this is the season of HIBERNATION, not TAKING DOWN DECORATIONS

Important considerations:

*they do not live in New Hampshire

*as a west coaster, it was CONSIDERABLY earlier where they were, so 'morning meeting' was more like 'they might have woken up just in time to show up halfway through the meeting'

IN CONCLUSION

1. I'm not putting away all the Christmas decorations, just some of them

2. Because it's still winter, so anything winter-y can definitely stay

3. But we also have a lot of fun Valentines Day and Lunar New Year decorations to enjoy

facethestrange posting in

sid_guardian

( You're about to view content that the poster has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

marcicat

last one to leave the bleachers every time, by Anonymous

What does David have in common with Ilya Rozanov? Good vodka, ice hockey, and apparently, loving Shane Hollander.

marcicat

Week three of Be a Goldfish begins today!

WEEK THREE: Don’t Dodge the Draft
What it says on the tin: complete and share a draft! Open the Google Docs floodgates. Release the Photoshop prisoners. Finish something you’ve been meaning to finish for a while. No more languishing projects: check it off your fandom to-do list!

At first I didn't think I had any drafts, but then I realized there IS a draft lurking in my gdocs, but it's already about 2000 finished(ish) words, then like three sentences of 'I have no idea where I was going with this' randomness.

SO. My current plan (hahahaha) is to post the 2000 words, backdated to whenever I wrote it (2019? maybe?). Then write something less than 1000 words (the goldfish max) as a follow up fic.

The Fun Challenge: include ALL of those 'I have no idea where I was going with this' sentences.

The Hard Challenge: looks like I'm going to need to write something

marcicat

Soooooo... In December, my workplace had a toy drive, which didn't get much attention, and ultimately only collected two things. (Crucially, one of those things was a bag of lego toys donated by me, which is why I was paying attention.)

And those things were collected in a small room near the entrance, so they were super visible. (If one was looking for them. Which I was.) Because they were still sitting there yesterday, clearly NOT donated, and I finally worked up the ire to ask about it.

(Because yeah, I'm a big proponent of the 'once you give a gift, the giftee can do whatever they want with it,' but also if you say you're going to donate things and then you just don't, that seems not cool.)

ANYWAY I got a whole story about it, which was relatively interesting, but probably not interesting enough to retell here. And I was all 'right, okay, here's the thing -- can I just take my donation back and give it to my local library instead? because I was happy to support the workplace community, but I'd be even happier to support my local community.'

And THAT'S why my December toy drive donation is now back in my hands! (WHAT EVEN)

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the ancient texts

fic rec Friday

8 for good luck

CAKE FOR BREAKFAST DAY

"what you should have learned about life by age 75: 'it's amazing, the things they can do'"

"in a world where you can be anything, be kind"

workaday Wednesday

AI时代 | age of AI

Be a Goldfish WEEK 3

reputation vs reality (but not as it applies to the grandmaster of demonic cultivation)

it's my birthday week!

Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 9, part 2

"come on sunshine, what can you show me, where can you take me to make me understand" (g. lightfoot)

My latest Guardian fanworks: fandomtrees edition!

it's all coming back to me

time to decorate

My latest Guardian fanworks

fic rec Friday

OH NO

workaday Wednesday

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March 2019

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