i've been thinking about 707 ever since i read his story a month ago.. T.T
first off, kudos to cael for being so precise with his predictions. he gave exact coordinates at a specific time to ensure that MC would be safe from the hands of the empire. the catch? it was done with the confidence that his bionic clone would act exactly as he predicted. cael would never put MC under risk without having a hold on the entire situation, all things considered. who knows how long he waited until there was a 100% chance of safety?
what if 707 were to act out of the ordinary? to diverge from the path set for him, both as a product from the empire and as "cael" himself? what if he went against expectations and turned MC in? so many "what ifs", and yet cael chose this one.
now onto my baby boy 707. :) imagine living as someone else's shadow, and you don't even know whose. his actions are not his own, nor will they ever be. the one person he thought understood him refuses to paint him— even if he has the face of her love, the same voice, mannerisms, figure, intonations.. he will never truly be cael, although he is a bionic copy. if he cannot be himself as an individual, and he cannot be the person he was modeled after, what place is there for him in the world?
i love him so much! 小亚历克斯, i hope you can live a happy life and sculpt all the figurines of MC that you want. 🥺
CW: Suggestive, cael (sorry i like him i just happen to also like hating on him), ok genuinely cael but its the fact that in his blurb MC is kind of your daughter
A/N: Ayn is my fave but i dint do him in part one to keep me motivated to finish part two 💀💀 mind games also im acc so obsessed with step parent reader wtf thats so cute
more utc
AYN / AI YIN (艾因)
- SCENARIO: Ayn is very aloof and he doesn’t drink so he’s not sleeping with anyone he doesn’t know well; you two are very close. You’re in the music club and trying to pick up/get better at an instrument and you pestered Ayn into giving you tips until you became so close that he basically acted as your tutor. Tbh you’re probably already in a situationship and you’ve probably kissed a few times but nothing crazy, you’ve never pushed it that far— well that is until last night. You hadn’t seen each other in a long time just because you were both busy and Ayn missed you so he had you come to his hideout and well shit happened
- He wakes up first but is incredibly out of it like there’s still drool dribbling out of his mouth and he’s only really half awake; he kinda looks dead in his stupor
- He’d probably just pull you closer, lay on you and go back to sleep to be so honest; he can order takeout for the two of you later
- He tangles himself with you like unbrushed hair. His legs and arms are all wrapped around you and he’s trying to get as close to you as possible and his breath is tickling your neck with how much he nudges his head against you and gives you a quick kiss before he goes back to sleep
- His bedhead usually isn’t messy because he doesn’t move a lot in his sleep but after last night his hair is more messy than usual because of how much he’s pushing his head against you lol
- Even if you wake up he won’t let you get up. Go back to bed, he missed you; he just kisses you until you give up but if you’re hungry he’ll order something from his phone
- Likes if you trace parts of his body while you’re laying down like his collarbones or running your thumb down his chest. Keep it below the head though, otherwise the ticklish feeling will bother him while he’s trying to sleep (he’s such a princess 🙄)
- Is actually pretty chill about the whole thing; it was only a matter of time in his opinion and will be a little confused if you’re super embarrassed because you’ve already made out before it’s not that crazy
- He thinks the situation is pretty simple honestly he’s just gonna invite you on dates and confess which does admittedly take a bit of time because he wants to do something special and you’re a little nervous when he doesn’t confess or anything but when he does it makes the wait 100% worth it
CAEL / YE XUAN (叶瑄)
- SCENARIO: OKAY. I’ve thought about this one deeply because Cael is like I think a confirmed virgin so he would have to be suuuperr close with you to want to hook up. So in my delusional little head you are a very old friend of his who helped him basically raise MC. You weren’t formally her step parent but you helped out where you could and ended up becoming close with the two. At first Cael was just grateful to have you for help and as a dear friend but as time went on he started to notice you more and more. You lived together and seeing you do random domestic things or just normal mundane things like doing laundry or gardening or sth was driving him insane. It just built up and randomly one day when you were getting ready for the day he suddenly kissed the back of your neck and confessed and things just escalated
- You wake up first and Cael is just lying so peacefully. He’s never felt more refreshed to be honest
- His bedhead is a little messy but it’s not really noticeable except for the bangs and he snores but he doesn’t really drool, doesn’t move much either; moves in between long intervals
- You run your fingers through his hair and kiss his forehead as he sleeps and you notice him crack a smile (he woke up a few minutes after you but he wanted to see what you’d do while he slept so he could tease you later)
- He loves it when you hold his face in your hands. His cheeks heat up and he has a small smile as he opens his eyes; such a small form of affection makes him feel so warm inside and he can’t help it
- He’d take your hands in his and kiss them then leading you to the kitchen so you can make breakfast together
- After all. That his infatuation is boosted like x10 like he starts drawing you just doing normal activities, thinking about you while in the middle of a battle among many other things
- However, he hasn’t slept with you since that night because he’s really worried
- He doesn’t really know how nor does he think he should pursue a committed relationship with you because tbh he could die at any moment and he has enough responsibility as is; it sounds harsh but he doesn’t want to have to worry about you and vice versa. It’ll take a lot of convincing and persistence to get him to realize that no matter what you’ll be by his side and that you want to take care of him and MC too— that you will always care about him no matter how much he distances himself
(时空中的绘旅人—For All Time—) EVENT!
「书中童话:魔女的冒险」 Fairy-tale within the Book: The Adventures of the Witch Translations
(Emerald’s Route)
冰雪中的回忆: 冰雪 — Memories of Ice and Snow
Chapter 1: Ice & Snow
“His voice was as soft and gentle as a Snowflake.”
*For All Time Master-list | Emerald’s Personal Master-list
*Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut!
I don't remember how long we were flying for, but a sudden gust of bone-chillingly cold wind blew past us, bringing hail in its wake. Riding on the Magic Broomstick, I looked down, only to see everything encased in white; a world of ice and snow.
I don’t know if it was due to the influence of the abnormal fluctuations, but the world of ice and snow beneath me had an inexplicable magnetic pull to it.
I flew down with Bajyu in tow. We flew past a good many sharp tips of ice that made the roofs of buildings, before stopping before a palace crafted in ice and snow.
⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹
We entered the palace with ease, for there weren’t any guards around.
The hallways were blanketed with a thick layer of snow, the many dozens of pillars that supported the palace decorated with sharp branches of ice.
The entire palace looked to be something right out of a snow-capped mountain, for everything was covered in ice and snow. And not to mention, it was empty.
Bajyu and I headed inside, hearing naught but the sound of our footsteps treading upon the snow, and the incessant whistling of the blizzard outside the windows.
I scanned the decorations of the palace, only to realize that there was something weird about this palace— All the paintings that decorated the walls of the palace were blank.
Initially, I’d thought that all the frost and snow had covered it up. But upon careful inspection, I realized that that wasn’t the case at all. It was, indeed, a blank canvas that had been framed up.
MC: How strange.
It was only after the words left my mouth that I realized the canvas wasn’t totally blank. There was actually something on it, just that whoever painted it used white paint. They had used white paint to paint a few penguins standing atop sheets of ice.
MC: No. Why are there penguins here? What kind of fairy-tale has penguins in them?
Bajyu: This is a distorted fairy-tale world where anything can happen. What's to stop a couple of penguins from appearing?
MC: Still, even if that’s the case… I still feel like something’s not quite right here. Let me take a closer look at things.
I moved the furniture blocking my path, taking a step forward and scrutinizing the canvas up close.
Although I can’t tell how the painter’s colouring style would be since it was all white, I felt that the brushstrokes and composition utilized in this piece was vaguely familiar.
A name that I’d kept buried and locked away deep down inside the chambers of my heart, ready to leap out...
Bajyu: (Y/n)! Quick, look! There's someone here!!
Hearing Bajyu shouting at me, I turned away from the painting and turned my attention back to the Palace. I saw a figure flash past the high stairway deeper inside the palace.
The figure moved too quickly for my eyes to catch; and the only thing I could register was the purple highlight of it’s clothes.
MC: Can it really be him…?
Bajyu: Who?
Bajyu followed up with a response immediately, but soon had his attention elsewhere.
Bajyu: (Y/n), watch out! The abnormal fluctuations here are terribly vicious!
Bajyu tugged at my hat, demanding my vigilance on the matter. We stared at one of the pillars that were in the palace, watching as a little foot tentatively took a step behind the cover of the pillar…
It was run over by the creatures behind it right afterwards, waddling another two steps before falling head-first into the snowy ground.
But before either of us had time to laugh, an entire row of penguins started making their presence known one after another in quick succession, swaying as they headed towards us.
Bajyu: ……
MC: …..
Bajyu: I can't believe there really ARE penguins down here.
MC: Yeah.
Bajyu: Get ready to fight; they’re severely influenced by the abnormal fluctuations.
⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹
After a round of fighting, the little penguins all fainted on the snowy grounds, leaving only one who was buried in the snow.
Bajyu: (Y/n)...? Why do the penguins here have scarfs and hats?
MC: I haven’t the foggiest.
The little penguin that had been stuck in the snow finally managed to pull its head back out after much struggling. But before it could take another two steps forward, a few balls of light that came from an unknown source started circling around it, slowly freezing it in place.
Bajyu: Strange.
Bajyu flew over to check on the little frozen penguin, but my mind was preoccupied with the figure I’d caught a glimpse of earlier.
The many clues we found finally made sense as the dots connected. This person who was in the palace was...
???: (Y/n). You’ve finally returned.
I heard a familiar voice within the empty palace, one as soft and gentle as a snowflake.
⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥The Adventures of the Witch✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹
Previous Part: (Prologue 2) | Next Part: (Emerald Chapter 2)
Have you ever wondered why there are so many Changs when the surname 常 is not actually that common? Have you ever struggled to figure out what sound “hs” is? Well don’t worry! Today we are going to go over some common practices in transliterating names from Taiwan.
With some recent discussion I’ve seen about writing names from the Shang-Chi movie, I thought this was the perfect time to publishe this post. Please note that this information has been compiled from my observations--I’m sure it’s not completely extensive. And if you see any errors, please let me know!
According to Wikipedia, “the romanized name for most locations, persons and other proper nouns in Taiwan is based on the Wade–Giles derived romanized form, for example Kaohsiung, the Matsu Islands and Chiang Ching-kuo.” Wade-Giles differs from pinyin quite a bit, and to make things even more complicated, transliterated names don’t necessarily follow exact Wade-Giles conventions.
Well, Wikipedia mentioned Kaohsiung, so let’s start with some large cities you already know of!
[1] B → P
台北 Taibei → Taipei
[2] G → K
[3] D → T
In pinyin, we have the “b”, “g”, and “d” set (voiceless, unaspirated) and the “p”, “k”, and “t” set (voiceless, aspirated). But in Wade-Giles, these sets of sounds are distinguished by using a following apostrophe for the aspirated sounds. However, in real life the apostrophe is often not used.
We need some more conventions to understand Kaohsiung.
[4] ong → ung (sometimes)
[5] X → Hs or Sh
高雄 Gaoxiong → Kaohsiung
I wrote “sometimes” for rule #4 because I am pretty sure I have seen instances where it is not followed. This could be due to personal preference, historical reasons, or influence from other romanization styles.
Now some names you are equipped to read:
王心凌 Wang Xinling → Wang Hsin-ling
徐熙娣 Xu Xidi → Shu/Hsu Hsi-ti (I have seen both)
黄鸿升 Huang Hongsheng → Huang Hung-sheng
龙应台 Long Yingtai → Lung Ying-tai
宋芸樺 Song Yunhua → Sung Yun-hua
You might have learned pinyin “x” along with its friends “j” and “q”, so let’s look at them more closely.
[6] J → Ch
[7] Q → Ch
范玮琪 Fan Weiqi → Fan Wei-chi
江美琪 Jiang Meiqi → Chiang Mei-chi
郭静 Guo Jing → Kuo Ching
邓丽君 Deng Lijun → Teng Li-chun
This is similar to the case for the first few conventions, where an apostrophe would distinguish the unaspirated sound (pinyin “j”) from the aspirated sound (pinyin “q”). But in practice these ultimately both end up as “ch”. I have some disappointing news.
[8] Zh → Ch
Once again, the “zh” sound is the unaspirated correspondent of the “ch” sound. That’s right, the pinyin “zh”, “j”, and “q” sounds all end up being written as “ch”. This can lead to some...confusion.
卓文萱 Zhuo Wenxuan → Chuo Wen-hsuan
陈绮贞 Chen Qizhen → Chen Chi-chen
张信哲 Zhang Xinzhe → Chang Shin-che
At least now you finally know where there are so many Changs. Chances are, if you meet a Chang, their surname is actually 张, not 常.
Time for our next set of rules.
[10] C → Ts
[11] Z → Ts
[12] Si → Szu
[13] Ci, Zi → Tzu
Again we have the situation where “c” is aspirated and “z” is unaspirated, so the sounds end up being written the same.
曾沛慈 Zeng Peici → Tseng Pei-tzu
侯佩岑 Hou Peicen → Hou Pei-tsen
周子瑜 Zhou Ziyu → Chou Tzu-yu
黄路梓茵 Huang Lu Ziyin → Huang Lu Tzu-yin
王思平 Wang Siping → Wang Szu-ping
Fortunately this next convention can help clear up some of the confusion from above.
[14] i → ih (zhi, chi, shi)
[15] e → eh (-ie, ye, -ue, yue)
Sometimes an “h” will be added at the end. So this could help distinguish some sounds. Like you have qi → chi vs. zhi → chih. There could be other instances of adding “h”--these are just the ones I was able to identify.
曾之乔 Zeng Zhiqiao → Tseng Chih-chiao
施柏宇 Shi Boyu → Shih Po-yu
谢金燕 Xie Jinyan → Hsieh Jin-yan
叶舒华 Ye Shuhua → Yeh Shu-hua
吕雪凤 Lü Xuefeng → Lü Hsueh-feng
Continuing on, a lot of the conventions below are not as consistently used in my experience, so keep that in mind. Nevertheless, it is useful to be familiar with these conventions when you do encounter them.
[16] R → J (sometimes)
Seeing “j” instead of “r” definitely confused me at first. Sometimes names will still use “r” though, so I guess it is up to one’s personal preferences.
任贤齐 Ren Xianqi → Jen Hsien-chi
任家萱 Ren Jiaxuan → Jen Chia-hsüan
张轩睿 Zhang Xuanrui → Chang Hsuan-jui
[17] e → o (ke, he, ge)
I can see how it would easily lead to confusion between ke-kou, ge-gou, and he-hou, so it’s important to know. I’ve never seen this convention for pinyin syllables like “te” or “se” personally.
柯震东 Ke Zhendong → Ko Chen-tung
葛仲珊 Ge Zhongshan→ Ko Chung-shan
[18] ian → ien
[19] Yan → Yen
I’ve observed that rule 18 seems more common than 19 because I see “yan” used instead of “yen” a fair amount. I’m not really sure why this is.
柯佳嬿 Ke Jiayan → Ko Chia-yen
田馥甄 Tian Fuzhen → Tien Fu-chen
陈建州 Chen Jianzhou → Chen Chien-chou
吴宗宪 Wu Zongxian → Wu Tsung-hsien
[20] Yi → I (sometimes)
I have seen this convention not followed pretty frequently, but two very famous names are often in line with it.
蔡英文 Cai Yingwen → Tsai Ing-wen
蔡依林 Cai Yilin → Tsai I-lin
[21] ui → uei
I have seen this convention used a couple times, but “ui” seems to be much more common.
蔡立慧 Cai Lihui → Tsai Li-huei
[22] hua → hwa
This is yet another convention that I don’t always see followed. But I know “hwa” is often used for 华 as in 中华, so it’s important to know.
霍建华 Huo Jianhua → Huo Chien-hwa
[23] uo → o
This is another example of where one might get confused between the syllables luo vs. lou or ruo vs. rou. So be careful!
罗志祥 Luo Zhixiang → Lo Chih-hsiang
刘若英 Liu Ruoying → Liu Jo-ying
徐若瑄 Xu Ruoxuan → Hsu Jo-hsuan
[24] eng → ong (feng, meng)
I think this rule is kinda cute because some people with Taiwanese accents pronounce meng and feng more like mong and fong :)
权怡凤 Quan Yifeng → Quan Yi-fong
[25] Qing → Tsing
I am not familiar with the reasoning behind this spelling, but 国立清华大学 in English is National Tsing Hua University, so this spelling definitely has precedence. But I also see Ching too for this syllable.
吴青峰 Wu Qingfeng→ Wu Tsing-fong
[26] Li → Lee
Nowadays a Chinese person from the Mainland would probably using the Li spelling, but in other areas, Lee remains more common.
李千那 Li Qianna → Lee Chien-na
[27] Qi → Chyi
I have noticed this exception. However, I’ve only personally noticed it for this surname, so maybe it’s just a convention for 齐.
齐秦 Qi Qin → Chyi Chin
齐豫 Qi Yu → Chyi Yu
[28] in ←→ ing
In Taiwanese Mandarin, these sounds can be merged, so sometimes I have noticed ling and lin, ping and pin, etc. being used in place of each other. I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect this is why singer A-Lin is not A-Ling (her Chinese name is 黄丽玲/Huang Liling).
[29] you → yu
I personally haven’t noticed these with other syllables ending in “ou,” only with the “you” syllable.
刘冠佑 Liu Guanyou → Liu Kuan-yu
曹佑宁 Cao Youning → Tsao Yu-ning
There is a lot of variation with these transliterated names. There are generally exceptions galore, so keep in mind that all this is general! Everyone has their own personal preferences. If you just look up some famous Taiwanese politicians, you will see a million spellings that don’t fit the 28 conventions above. Sometimes people might even mix Mandarin and another Chinese language while transliterating their name.
Anyway, if any of you know why 李安 is romanized as Ang Lee, please let me know because it’s driving me crazy.
Note: The romanized names I looked while writing this post at were split between two formats, capitalizing the syllable after the hyphen and not capitalizing this syllable. I chose to not capitalize for all the names for the sake of consistency. I’m guessing it’s a matter of preference.