#2021 chinese fortune | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mengjue · 1 year

Text

What's Happening in China? The November 2022 Protests

Hello! I know that there's so much going on in the world right now, so not everyone may be aware of what is happening in China right now. I thought that I would try to write a brief explainer, because the current wave of protests is truly unprecedented in the past 30+ years, and there is a lot of fear over what may happen next. For context, I'm doing this as someone who has a PhD in Asian Studies specialising in contemporary Chinese politics, so I don't know everything but I have researched China for many years.

I'll post some decent links at the end along with some China specialists & journalists I follow on Twitter (yeah I know, but it's still the place for the stuff at the moment). Here are the bullet points for those who just want a brief update:

Xi Jinping's government is still enacting a strict Zero Covid policy enforced by state surveillance and strict lockdowns.

On 24 November a fire in an apartment in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, killed 10. Many blamed strict quarantine policies on preventing evacuation.

Protests followed and have since spread nationwide.

Protesters are taking steps not seen since Tiananmen in 1989, including public chants for Xi and the CCP to step down.

Everyone is currently unsure how the government will respond.

More in-depth discussion and links under the cut:

First a caveat: this is my own analysis/explanation as a Chinese politics specialist. I will include links to read further from other experts and journalists. Also, this will be quite long, so sorry about that!

China's (aka Xi Jinping's) Covid Policy:

The first and most important context: Xi has committed to a strict Zero Covid policy in China, and has refused to change course. Now, other countries have had similar approaches and they undoubtedly saved lives - I was fortunate to live in New Zealand until this year, and Prime Minister Ardern's Zero Covid approach in 2020-2021 helped protect many. The difference is in the style/scope of enforcement, the use of vaccines, and the variant at play. China has stepped up its control on public life over the past 10 years, and has used this to enforce strict quarantine measures without full regard to the impact on people's lives - stories of people not getting food were common. Quarantine has also become a feared situation, as China moves people to facilities often little better than prisons and allegedly without much protection from catching Covid within. A personal friend in Zhengzhou went through national, then provincial, then local quarantines when moving back from NZ, and she has since done her best to avoid going back for her own mental and physical health. Xi has also committed China to its two home-grown vaccines, Sinovac and Sinopharm, both of which have low/dubious efficacy and are considered ineffective against new variants. Finally, with delta and then omicron most of the Zero-Covid countries have modified their approach due to the inability to maintain zero cases. China remains the only country still enacting whole-city eradication lockdowns, and they have become more frequent to the point that several are happening at any given time. The result is a population that is incredibly frustrated and losing hope amidst endless lockdowns and perceived ineffectiveness to address the pandemic.

Other Issues at Play:

Beyond the Covid situation, China is also wrestling with the continued slowdown in its economic growth. While its economic rise and annual GDP growth was nigh meteoric from the 80s to the 00s, it has been slowing over the past ten years, and the government is attempting to manage the transition away from an export-oriented economy to a more fully developed one. However, things are still uncertain, and Covid has taken its toll as it has elsewhere the past couple of years. Youth unemployment in particular is reaching new highs at around 20%, and Xi largely ignored this in his speech at the Party Congress in October (where he entered an unprecedented third term). As a result of the perceived uselessness of China's harsh work culture and its failure to result in a better life, many young Chinese have been promoting 躺平 tǎng píng or "lying flat", aka doing the bare minimum just to get by (similar to the English "quiet quitting"). The combination of economic issues and a botched Covid approach is important, as these directly affect the lives of ordinary middle-class Chinese, and historical it has only been when this occurred that mass movements really took off. The most famous, Tiananmen in 1989, followed China's opening up economic reforms and the dismantling of many economic safety nets allowing for growing inequality. While movements in China often grow to include other topics, having a foundation in something negatively impacting the average Han Chinese person's livelihood is important.

The Spark - 24 Nov 2022 Urumqi Apartment Fire:

The current protests were sparked by a recent fire that broke out in a flat in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang province. (This is the same Xinjiang that is home to the Uighur people, against whom China has enacted a campaign of genocide and cultural destruction.) The fire occurred in the evening and resulted in 10 deaths, which many online blamed on the strict lockdown measures imposed by officials, who prevented people from leaving their homes. It even resulted in a rare public apology by city officials. However, with anger being so high nationwide, in addition to many smaller protests that have occurred over the past two years, this incident has ignited a nationwide movement.

The Protests and Their Significance:

The protests that have broken out over the past couple of days representing the largest and most significant challenge to the leadership since the 1989 Tiananmen movement. Similar to that movement, these protests have occurred at universities and cities across the country, with many students taking part openly. This scale is almost unseen in China, particularly for an anti-government protest. Other than Tiananmen in 1989, the most widespread movements that have occurred have been incidents such as the protest of the 1999 Belgrade bombings or the 2005 and then 2012 anti-Japanese protests, all of which were about anger toward a foreign country.

Beyond the scale the protests are hugely significant in their message as well. Protesters are publicly shouting the phrases "习近平下台 Xí Jìnpíng xiàtái!" and "共产党下台 Gòngchǎndǎng xiàtái!", which mean "Xi Jinping, step down/resign!" and "CCP, step down/resign!" respectively. To shout a direct slogan for the government to resign is unheard of in China, particularly as Xi has tightened control of civil society. And people are doing this across the country in the thousands, openly and in front of police. This is a major challenge for a leader and party who have prioritised regime stability as a core interest for the majority of their history.

Looking Ahead:

Right now, as of 15:00 Australian Eastern time on Monday, 28 November 2022, the protests are only in their first couple of days and we are unsure as to how the government will respond. Police have already been seen beating protesters and journalists and dragging them away in vehicles. However, in many cases the protests have largely been monitored by police but still permitted to occur. There seems to be uncertainty as to how they want to respond just yet, and as such no unified approach.

Many potential outcomes exist, and I would warn everyone to be careful in overplaying what can be achieved. Most experts I have read are not really expecting this to result in Xi's resignation or regime change - these things are possible, surely, but it is a major task to achieve and the unity & scale of the protest movement remains to be fully seen. The government may retaliate with a hard crackdown as it has done with Tiananmen and other protests throughout the years. It may also quietly revamp some policies without publicly admitting a change in order to both pacify protesters and save face. The CCP often uses mixed tactics, both coopting and suppressing protest movements over the years depending on the situation. Changing from Zero Covid may prove more challenging though, given how much Xi has staked his political reputation on enforcing it.

What is important for everyone online, especially those of us abroad, is to watch out for the misinformation campaign the government will launch to counter these protests. Already twitter is reportedly seeing hundreds of Chinese bot accounts mass post escort advertisements using various city names in order to drown out protest results in the site's search engine. Chinese officials will also likely invoke the standard narrative of Western influence and CIA tactics as the reason behind the protests, as they did during the Hong Kong protests.

Finally, there will be a new surge of misinformation and bad takes from tankies, or leftists who uncritically support authoritarian regimes so long as they are anti-US. An infamous one, the Qiao Collective, has already worked to shift the narrative away from the protests and onto debating the merits of Zero Covid. This is largely similar to pro-Putin leftists attempting the justify his invasion of Ukraine. Always remember that the same values that you use to criticise Western countries should be used to criticise authoritarian regimes as well - opposing US militarism and racism, for example, is not incompatible with opposing China's acts of genocide and state suppression. If you want further info (and some good sardonic humour) on the absurd takes and misinfo from pro-China tankies, I would recommend checking out Brian Hioe in the links below.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a grass-roots protest made by people in China, who are putting their own lives at risk to demonstrate openly like this. There have already been so many acts of bravery by those who just want a better future for themselves and their country, and it is belittling and disingenuous to wave away everything they are doing as being just a "Western front" or a few "fringe extremists".

Links:

BBC live coverage page with links to analysis and articles

ABC (Australia) analysis

South China Morning Post analysis

Experts & Journalists to Check Out:

Brian Hioe - Journalist & China writer, New Bloom Magazine

Bonnie Glaser - China scholar, German Marshall Fund

Vicky Xu - Journalist & researcher, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Stephen McDonnell - Journalist, BBC

M Taylor Fravel - China scholar, MIT

New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre - NZ's hub of China scholarship (I was fortunate to attend their conferences during my PhD there, they do great work!)

If you've reached the end I hope this helps with understanding what's going on right now! A lot of us who know friends and whanau in China are worried for their safety, so please spread the word and let's hope that there is something of a positive outcome ahead.

#孟珏’s china corner #中国 #上海 #习近平 #习近平下台 #共产党下台 #China #Shanghai #China protests #China protests 2022 #Xi Jinping #Xi Jinping step down #CCP step down #Xi Jinping resign #CCP resign #乌鲁木齐 #Urumqi #Urumqi fire #Urumqi apartment fire

1K notes · View notes

thebleedingwoodland · 2 years

Text

Time to release draft I wrote in year 2021.

Warning: ⚠️Very long post, no hide. Important critical about faulty of The Sims 3 game content directed to EA (Electronic Arts) company. ⚠️ English is not my first language. I cannot input many images/pictures for evidences because the post is already too long, please do research by yourself to find more images/pictures.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As an ethnically Chinese, I baffled seeing what EA portraying China/Chinese culture in TS3 World Adventures world Shang Simla. For more than 10 years. It is full of wrong ignorant portrayal, obviously without asking input from actual Chinese people and portraying the world as “China inspired East Asian world with American Chinatown based on what Westerners’ perspective”.

If you are non Chinese, non Asian, please do not believe nonsense what EA made in Shang Simla.

Using icon of Japan: Torii Gate.

To be more specific, Itsukushima Shrine.

There are Great Wall, Chinese Gate, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven in the game, why didn’t (logically) EA made the icon based on one of the builds? France and Egypt have correct icons with same build in the game, Eiffel Tower and Pyramid. Imagine if Windenburg, TS4 Europe world, has American Liberty Statue as icon, what’s your reaction?

There is one person already complained about the matter on EA forum, no response from EA themselves. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-World-Adventures-is-incorrect-and-technically-racist/td-p/3474359

Symbol for China should be: Forbidden City / Great Wall / Pai Fang (牌坊)

Shang Simla residents bowing to other Sims when greeting. Chinese people DO NOT BOW when greeting people, but shake hand as usual. The only Chinese people bowing is when we are in important respectful and formal events, such as showing respect to the dead person in funeral / cemetery and religious events, or any formal apologies by company and services in China and Taiwan. For normal occasions, meeting other people casually, there is no bow in Chinese culture, only Japanese and Koreans who bow. I guess EA added the “bow” culture to make Shang Simla more “exotic” and more “Asian”, as Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims have local gesture greeting.

Fortune Cookies. There is no such thing as Fortune Cookies in Chinese culture. Fortune Cookies are cookies originated from Japan, spread to USA country, popularized by Japanese immigrants to Chinese restaurant in USA. “China” world? More like American Chinatown, located in USA. It is not first EA did that mistake in TS3, In TS4, EA added Fortune Cookies symbol in street food vendor for Chinese food stall.

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/fortune-cookies-2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_cookie

Accurate historical Chinese food / dessert = Mooncake (in Autumn) or Zongzi (in Summer).

Mooncake, TS3 CC made by LunaYue

Left: Zongzi from Southern part of China, TS3 CC made by me, right: Zongzi from Northern part of China, TS4 CC made by Rex.

There is Korean household in Shang Simla. Ho Sung Kim, Hui Young Kim, Sun Young Kim Why did EA added Korean Sims in “China” country? As if EA wants to mix up China setting, Japan icon & bowing culture, Korean Sims as one “exotic” East Asian country. Why called it China (literally in-game) if EA added fusion with Japanese and Korean elements?

“Asian trait” for Shang Simla residents, instead of “Chinese trait”. Did EA know Asian is continent, not only one country? Which consists many countries? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_area China only cannot represent Asian continent. Southeast Asian countries and other regions of Asia do not use chopsticks when eating. Southeast Asia uses spoon & fork and hand. South Asia uses hand.

Houses in Shang Simla are very exaggerated Ancient China palace style, so silly and hilarious. According to EA, Chinese resident house must look like stereotypical exotic curved palace like portrayed in movies.

While ordinary Chinese residents (in villages) are like THESE .

Square boxy, normal looking roof. Curved palace looking like what you saw is for kingdom in high position in ancient dynasty time, not for poor or ordinary peasant citizens. If you see that kind of curved building in modern time, is for community lots and as tourist attraction. Not for ordinary residential houses. I envy for Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims, they at least have better portrayal of Egypt and France in modern setting, but in villages. Their Sims residents do not live in tacky Versailles mansion- like house or Pyramid-like building.

There’s one dish called Egg Rolls, which is actually called Spring Rolls in Chinese & Asian countries. The dish placed together with noodles in one plate, which looks very weird and gross 🤢 , it’s like putting burger and spaghetti in one plate.

Chinese and other Southeast Asian countries place and eat Spring Rolls in one plate, as a individual meal or snack, not place it together with another main course meal. Like THIS.

I suspect the culture of American people putting all food in one plate in “Americanized Chinese food” buffet restaurant.

Small issue but a bit annoyance: Shang Simla wives have the same last name with their husbands. While actually in Chinese culture, married women still keep their birth last name, not following their husband’s last name. What I know, western culture forces married women to change their last name same as their husband‘s last name. As TS3 game has feature of separating last name and household name, better make more sense to make the husband and wife of Shang Simla residents having different last name.

EA confused “modern setting but taking place in village” with “ancient time”. “Shang Simla, China is home to people that value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind over all else...” . The description is very stereotype Hong Kong Kung Fu movie (Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, etc) taking place in ancient time. Real Chinese culture value family, fortune, culture, food over all else. “Discipline, peace, clarity of mind”...? Must be “fantasy” made by westerners thinking China is still stuck in ancient dynasty time practicing martial arts with martial arts-like “discipline” rules like depicted in fictional movies. EA must be confuse “Quietness, peaceful society” to Japan. Chinese people culture in general is very extroverted, loud, and noisy. Champs Les Sims and Al Simhara obviously taking place in modern but in village. “ Champs Les Sims, France offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Sounds normal and applicable in modern time. Local Champs Les Sims do not dress like in ancient European Medieval or France Revolution era. Local Al Simhara wearing conservative long dress with head cover as Muslim society, not ancient Egypt Pharaoh-like clothing.

Very stereotype view about Chinese by westerners: Kung Fu. TS3 Martial Arts in-game are not comparable to real Chinese Martial Arts, definitely not all. It’s just a made up cartoony fighting of generic punch, kick, parry for E rating game / suitable for children by EA, mix up with Japanese Karate (breaking block). If you want to see better portrayal of Chinese Martial Arts for Teen Rating game, go play fighting game like Tekken. (Nah, that’s fighting game. For real life wushu you can see example like THIS or many more on internet. I’m not interested in Chinese Martial Arts.) --- You know the most realistic ethnic Chinese people’s activities? KARAOKE & GAMBLING ! 😂 Also, “fighting” to pay the restaurant bill first.

Whoever making this chopsticks animation is violating the most basic principle of 3D animation : Doesn’t look at the real life reference. TS3 has the worst eating using chopsticks animation compared to TS2 and TS4. You cannot hold food with chopsticks in real life like this, it’s just lazy animating.

How to Hold Chopsticks (in English language)

(Do not use “It’s too difficult, it’s foreign culture!” as an excuse. Asian food is already globalized and famous in western countries. I know you westerners have experienced holding chopsticks to eat Chinese/Japanese food in your country. If you do the 3D animation job, do it professionally, regardless the difficulty!). Left-handed is very uncommon in Asian countries, and many Asian and Middle East countries with significant Muslim population sees left hand is “dirty hand”, right hand is “good hand” , including Egypt, which is Al Simhara, fictional country EA portrayed in-game. EA must be careful at portraying culture outside than American. Majority people in this world using right hand, not left hand. TS2 and TS4 right: Using right hand, why TS3 suddenly switched to left hand?

English version of the game is much more hilarious:

In English version, Shang Simla signature dish named “Stir-Fry”. “Stir-Fry” is cooking technique, not name of the dish. Is like naming boiled egg as “Boiled” and Fried rice as “Fried”. Why didn’t the dish named “Stir-Fried Chicken/Pork/Beef” or “Stir-Fried Vegetable” or “Stir-Fried Noodles” to make more sense? Furthermore, the 3D food object themselves is bad. Sorry to say, what EA’s made is very laughable and doesn’t deserve to be called “Chinese Dish”.

Chinese food always combine all stir-fried ingredients into one in one plate! Not separated like North and South Korea! As a real life designer, I notice that EA employee pick wrong yellow colour for noodles-like texture, random western leaf decoration, separated (?) into two. Real stir-fried noodles looks like THESE.

Appetizing yellow, vibrant colour, fresh, combining all types of ingredients into one. My guess is because American Chinese buffet again as the responsible why the “Chinese” food in American country look like what EA portrayed 🤢 To be honest, I am disappointed why the signature food of the in-game country must be ordinary home-cooked food cooked for 10 minutes, not something exquisite, restaurant/chef-made such as Peking Duck? Peking Duck is national dish of China. When I was in vacation trip in Guilin, China, I always served with Peking Duck in all restaurant I visited. Must be because American Chinese buffet again that serves Americanized style Stir-Fried food as popular “Chinese” food known for American people.

In TS3 WA EP English version, Spring Roll is named as “Egg rolls”. In Asian countries, not just China, Spring Rolls （春捲）are THESE. You westerners are mistaken Spring Rolls with “Egg Rolls” name, then you wondered why “Egg Rolls” made without eggs 😂 . Egg rolls （蛋捲）are THESE. Made from eggs. Biscuit and crunchy. In TS3 WA EP Traditional Chinese version, the dish is correctly named 春捲 . I researched about Spring Rolls in English language, it seems like U.S.A like / obsessed about Spring Rolls as Chinese food. Probably because Spring Rolls often served in Chinese restaurant in U.S.A? If EA wanted to create accurate signature dish of China, it must be: 1) Peking Duck 2) Noodles / Rice Porridge / Century Egg / Braised Pork Belly / Hot Pot . Not Dim Sum because Dim Sum already in Base Game.

Shang Simla resident names in English version are confusing, mix up Last name as first name, first name as last name, there is parody of real life famous Chinese person, there are made up names such as Adaeze, Bebe, Louie (??) How could these names fit to China world at all?

If EA cannot portray specific country decently, don’t ever dare to call the fictional world as the real life ones.... If the result is disastrous like this, better to call it just Shang Simla, do not call it China. What EA portray is not China, but “East Asian inspired world mixed with American Chinatown in western view”.

How could EA, a big corporation, biggest video game developer, with big budget, did not hire someone expert to do research about the culture they portrayed first? Was there no internet connection in EA studio? Didn’t they at least has Chinese descent employee in their office? California has many Asian descent include Chinese. EA has headquarters in Beijing and Shanghai.... EA market this game to other Chinese countries (not just China) such as Taiwan and Hongkong, hiring Traditional Chinese translator to translate the game, also there are many ethnic Chinese and other Asians who play the Sims game, of course we can recognize the inaccuracies very easily.

This is another example of westerners making profit from product sales portraying Asians without doing research, without consulting to the actual Asians people at all. Look how mess Disney’s Mulan (2020) movie is. Every Chinese descent and actual China people hate it for ignorant portrayal and inaccuracies by western moviemakers without doing research at all, also bad story plot, suddenly fantasy mixed with random Chinese element wuxia/xianxia stereotype that looks cringy parody, wrong phoenix (western/Egypt phoenix, not Chinese FengHuang), Chinese letters on sword looks like bad/awkward Chinese tattoo by westerners. I have real life sibling still hating and complaining everytime Mulan 2020 was mentioned 😂. Western Simmers from USA, Europe keep taking screenshots of Shang Simla, saying Shang Simla is beautiful.... You westerners call Shang Simla beautiful because you don’t know Chinese culture at all, you only see the landscape and don’t see how awful the culture portrayal of EA made in that world.

Now I want to know how bad the portrayal EA made for Champs Les Sims as France world and Al Simhara as Egypt world.... I can see Al Simhara is too stereotyped as “Indiana Jones raiding tomb adventure” site. I see there are many French Simblrs.. please post and elaborate if you find any inaccuracies 😁

-------------------------------------

Arguments:

- It’s just a game:

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. EA is one of biggest video game company with big budget releasing AAA video game titles to make profit, similar to Disney. They’re not free CC creators. Whoever create game placing expensive price tag with very big budget for making big profit from international players must be responsible to create product with quality and effort, including consulting & do research to local people & culture to depict culture outside their default culture (American). I bet you Americans and Europeans complain if you find inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake depicting your own country and culture. It’s not just cultural inaccuracies, there are many bug, glitch, cheaply-made, bad animations, missing features or any factors are not deserved in The Sims game that supposedly AAA expensive game titles.

- The Sims is marketed heavily for U.S.A. and European countries to appeal U.S.A. and European players:

Video games, any titles, any genre, is marketed to international people, not just western countries only. The Sims is translated to Chinese language, sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and any other Asian countries. If EA marketed heavily for western countries only, why are EA hiring Chinese translator then sell their games into those countries? Hiring translator + shipping + marketing to other countries have costs too.

- But we westerners are accustomed/used to Fortune Cookies as they are cookies that usually available in Chinese restaurants!

“Chinese” restaurant? Ha ha ha. That is Americanized Chinese restaurant. Every Chinese restaurant in every country changed to suit local people’s taste, so no longer authentic. In my country, Chinese restaurant provides not authentic and hybrid to local cuisine in my country too. Please broaden your knowledge, google Fortune Cookies for 1 minute and it says originated from USA. Furthermore, Shang Simla is located in China in-game by EA, it is supposed to depict China, not Chinatown in western country. It is unprofessional/laziness from EA by not researching or consulting to actual Chinese people (I repeat: They’re big company, not free CC creators). No need to use World Adventures EP to provide Fortune Cookies, just release in Base game or Store content separately. Because using World Adventures EP to introduce in the Shang Simla, China world, it makes as if Fortune Cookies belongs to Chinese culture / China, while actually it’s foreign/alien cookies for us ethnic Chinese.

- The Sims 3 World Adventures is focused heavily on adventure, explorations, and martial arts. It’s family-oriented / cartoony game / parody of life anyway.

I know that The Sims game is parody of American suburb life. Countries often depict other countries with stereotype. Focusing on martial arts because China/ Chinese culture is often depicted by foreigners as Martial Arts because Hong Kong / Chinese martial arts movies taking place in ancient time is very popular internationally, no wonder Chinese culture is stereotyped with martial arts. But this inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake is supposed to be not happening if the employees whoever create the game do research carefully. Mistaking Chinese symbol with Japanese symbol? Seriously?

How about American country world has Eiffel Tower or Pisa Tower as symbol icon? France world has American Liberty statue as symbol icon? Croissant and spaghettis placed on the same plate? Croissant has shape and colour resembles to poop? France world has Pizza and French Fries depicted as French culinary specialty in that world? Champs Les Sims, France world has German household and Italian and Spanish elements, local Sims trait has “European trait” instead of French trait? France world has stereotype castle-like or Versailles-like house build? France world has stereotype ancient French revolution clothing complete with fork sticks and fire torch, with depiction of the world like “Seeking for equality and fairness, [reference to French Revolution]” ancient stereotype for the world that supposed to be placed in modern setting in village? You want to depict adventure and exploration culture, but with this kind of depiction, I bet actual French people will not feel comfortable, and other westerners from USA or any other western countries will recognize the stupidity and inaccuracies easily.

- EA will not make super realistic depiction of world like its real life country. China in TS3 World Adventures is supposedly focus on exploration/adventure not miniature real life China and realistic society with karaoke, gambling, and focus on family.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t expect EA, The Sims game developer from USA will include karaoke and gambling or any super realistic for cultural world depiction, it must be something famous and stereotype from the country. Champs Les Sims world has the most normal description: “...offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Shang Simla: “...value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind ...” sounds very exaggerated too heavily focused on martial arts in ancient time in fictional movies and confused with Japanese Zen Garden or Chinese Spa/Meditation by Americans. Better description if Shang Simla is “...offer the cultural experience, culinary, and successful exploration will be granted with good fortune. Sims can learn Martial Arts skill...” Strong points of China (and Chinese culture) is the culture and food. Martial Arts is supposedly a bonus, not the prime feature. If Champs Les Sims has nectar making, these prime features of Shang Simla that fits for the game:

Making noodles. Noodles are the most oldest food invention in history, recorded 4.000 years ago in China, becomes important meal in Chinese culture. Imagine the cartoony/goofy animations when Sims crafting noodles then fail with funny expression. Very fitting to the game.

Or making dumplings.

Calligraphy

Majiang (Mahjong) technically gambling. EA had made playing cards table for TS2, just re-use the cards game table coding.

LION DANCE video

Giving simoleons in Hong Bao (Red Envelope) to Lion Dance, then Sims will be granted with ‘Good Luck Charm’ or ‘Good Mood Moodlet’. Lion Dance has cartoony moves, jumping from one pole to another, so it’s very fitting to The Sims game.

Not the Fortune Cookies in-game. Fortune Cookies is American, so it’s useless, doesn’t provide any functional and wasting potential for The Sims 3 World Adventure EP to represent real culture.

It’s unfortunate that Americans or western people in general seem to think Chinese culture is “Kung Fu - Dragon - Kung Fu - Dragon - Exotic palace looking building from the East - qipao / cheongsam - Americanized/westernised Chinese food.” only.

-But they are American company!!111!! As a company from different country/culture they could be at least cannot represent other cultures 100% accurately! Shang Simla is fictional world!!1!!

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. 😂

There are Lion Dance and Hong Bao (Red Envelope) as Lunar New Year update in The Sims Freeplay in year 2015. Yeah authentic representation 😁 , by The Sims Freeplay mobile division team, different team than EA The Sims 3, made exclusively for players from Asia.

Whoever game developer team behind it had done great job: did research and obviously had consultation to actual Chinese people. (I mean, how many average American/western people in general aware of Lion Dance and Hong Bao?)

No need for EA team to travel far away to China to survey, just do deep research on internet and asking someone working in EA ethnically Chinese. Costs $0 for them. There are a lot of authentic real culture that will give more unique, fresh idea, great input into the game if only the game developer team willing to spend their time and effort to do research.

I applause the authentic representation but too bad it’s in mobile game.

https://www.techinasia.com/sims-freeplay-cny-update

Other games? Sleeping Dogs.

Developer from Canada, Publisher from Japan, the team behind them seems to don’t have Hong Kong and Chinese ethnic, but they did great job at representing fictional Hong Kong setting looks like actual real life Hong Kong.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/307690/Sleeping_Dogs_Definitive_Edition/

I’m not from Hong Kong, but definitely feels the Southern Chinese culture vibe. Authentic street food, noisy people, pedestrians eating noodles with styrofoam package in street, night market, shrine to pray, Chinese festival, Lion Dance, Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), realistic street fighting (not Kung Fu), game price is more cheaper than The Sims 3, definitely they didn’t make stupidity such as mistaking Chinese icon symbol with Japanese icon symbol and including Fortune Cookies. (My Sleeping Dogs save game file is corrupt, you can take a look at Youtube videos).

The Sims is the only proper game with genre of life simulator on the market, but disappointingly, the developer of the game do not take the quality of the game very seriously about dining. I often see many action games, fighting games, other genres portraying authentic food, how to dining properly with right utensils, right hand, although they are not life simulator genre. The Sims? The genre of life simulator? Eat with left hand, eating animation still like a cartoony greedy pig, do not use fork and knife elegantly but instead using only fork with stiff animation, wrong chopsticks hand position, not authentic food, food only represented in one plate = one meal = for one person which is lazy coding & no innovation. In real life, one person put many meals on dining table to pick and choose to put on that person’s main plate/bowl, not just eat on one plate only.

-Why are you complain so much? Show some respect to EA’s employees!

I’m real life employee who have been working as 3D Artist & Animator for video games and movies companies for years. No need to be employee for this kind of industry, as a customer who had paid the product must be feeling disappointment and anger if the product you buy is broken, not working, faulty, and after service is bad. Not the employees’ fault, not at all, the fault must be upper management of company, who demand income as fast as possible, hiring few low-skill workers to cut production cost as possible to force them to create many assets in-products as many as possible in short deadline, not doing research, not brainstorming the ideas and resources well because the company do not have good communication and time management or probably do not have much fund to pay research, then release product immediately although the product is not finished/developed well. My guess is that upper management in EA doesn’t care quality of The Sims game itself, as the game is seen as “Children’s Toys”, marketing for teenage girls / majority women, so the company doesn’t take it seriously, contrast to EA’s sports game titles, Battlefield, Star Wars’ Battlefront, or any titles marketed strongly for teenage guys / men.

Look at complaint at someone who’s saying Shang Simla icon is wrong, is Japan’s Torii Gate. No response from EA at all. Very unprofessional, while the fault is the company itself.

EA Sims 3 division, if you couldn’t do the research, give the world to ethnically Chinese, to be remade by actual Chinese employees (I know it’s impossible, The Sims 3 is ended, already 12 years old). Seriously. Clearly EA has money, power, headquarter in Shanghai and Beijing.. It would be much better, authentic portrayal, than ignorant stupid wrong portrayal that seems to make fun of Chinese culture in bad way and misleading to western/international players. I’m only Chinese descent, dislike portrayal of Shang Simla world, let alone Chinese Simmers live in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

--------------------------------

912 notes · View notes

mysticstronomy · 8 months

Text

HOW MUCH SPACE JUNK IS THERE??

Blog#322

Saturday, August 12th, 2023

Welcome back,

The United States Space Surveillance Network currently tracks more than 23,000 pieces of space junk that are larger than a softball. This includes about 3,000 defunct satellites that have been left to decay in orbit, according to the Natural History Museum of London.

However, most pieces of orbital debris are far too small to be tracked. Researchers estimate that there are more than 100 trillion untracked pieces of space junk in Earth orbit, according to the Science study. The vast majority of this untracked debris is likely less than 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) wide, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

Even tiny pieces of space junk can cause incredible damage. That's because objects in orbit move incredibly quickly, typically reaching speeds of greater than 15,600 mph (25,200 km/h), or 10 times the speed of an average bullet shot on Earth.

If two objects moving in opposite directions collide with one another in space, then the impact becomes even greater.

This means that even pea-size objects can become dangerous missiles in orbit. This was illustrated in 2016, when a small paint fleck collided with a window on the International Space Station, gouging a quarter-inch dent into the glass. (Fortunately, the window held).

Yes, space junk frequently falls to Earth. On average, anywhere from 200 to 400 pieces of tracked space debris plummet through Earth's atmosphere every year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Most of this free-falling junk is small enough that it burns up entirely in the atmosphere, never reaching the ground. Larger objects that can survive the fall (like satellites) typically splash down into the ocean, but not always.

In August 2022, a charred, spike-like chunk of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft fell through the atmosphere and landed on a sheep farm in Australia.

On Feb. 10, 2009, a defunct Russian spacecraft crashed into a functioning U.S. Iridium commercial spacecraft, destroying both and adding more than 2,300 pieces of trackable space junk to orbit, according to NASA.

In March 2021, a piece of a Russian rocket collided with and destroyed a functioning Chinese military satellite.

In June 2021, a small piece of unidentified space junk slammed into the International Space Station's robotic arm, damaging but not destroying it.

Incidents are occuring more frequently as more space junk is added to orbit each year.

Originally published on livescience.com

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, August 16th, 2023)

"WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU WERE IN SPACE WITHOUT A SPACESUIT??"

#astronomy #outer space #alternate universe #astrophysics #universe #spacecraft #white universe #space #parallel universe #astrophotography

147 notes · View notes

look-how-they-massacred-them · 9 months

Text

Preliminary Poll

Cassandra Cain

Submission reason:

DC executives hated to see a batgirlboss winning and gave her an extremely OOC villain arc to purposefully destroy her character. Throughout Cass's Batgirl arc, one of the most core parts of her character is that she doesn't kill. She's more hardcore about the no-kill rule than Bruce is - she even breaks into a high security prison to free a murderer on death row because "he could change"! Cass believes *everyone* deserves the chance to change for the better, regardless of what they've done, and this is heavily influenced by her own traumatic past that had left her haunted with guilt. To have her suddenly go from that, to being like "actually maybe killing people is fine :p villain arc time!", was jarring to say the least. Now, I can't go any deeper than that because I haven't read beyond the very beginning of this arc, but I heard it also fell into stereotypical Chinese dragon lady tropes and erased her disabilities? So uh. Good lord. Eventually, DC went back on this and made it so that she was actually being brainwashed the entire time, and let her be written as her usual self again (albeit very sidelined). But then the New 52 happened. For those who aren't aware of comic book fuckery, the New 52 was the most recent hard reboot of the DC universe, and was highly controversial for ruining a lotttt of pre-established beloved characterizations. Fortunately, Cass wasn't subject to this! Unfortunately, that was because she was removed from canon ENTIRELY. Writers have talked about how they weren't allowed to put her in comics during that time, iirc they couldn't even put her in Lil Gotham which was a non-canon slice of life spinoff. I could be wrong about that, though. After like, 4 or 5 years I think? Cass was allowed to be in comics again, though she no longer got to be Batgirl until the next soft reboot in 2021. I can't say much about this era, because I haven't read much stuff from Rebirth cause it kinda sucks. Nowadays, Cass is finally getting some time in the spotlight again and is having pieces of her original lore return to being canon, nature is healing.

Cassandra Cain was invented to be the second Batgirl in an effort to get more women in Batman comics, and met with a lot of resistence before even being created because people were really attached to Barbara Gordon, the first (major) Batgirl. Despite this, she was a hit, due to being a unique and inventive character, and she got a long-running solo comic. One of her major defining character traits was a passionate refusal to kill; another was being arguably the best martial artist in the world with the ability to read body language to such a degree of accuracy it allowed her to dodge bullets. Then a guy named Dan Didio became a bigwig at DC and he, with the help of others, systematically and intentionally massacred her character because they resented that Barbara wasn't Batgirl anymore. At first, she was made into a coldblooded killer. Then she was written out entirely from the universe reboot (long story) and there was an embargo on using her character. Then she was brought back, but only as a shadow of her former self with nerfed fighting skills and little personality, and also not Batgirl anymore. Didio has since been fired and they're trying to recover her character from the massacre, but the decades long massacre has left a mark that's still clearly visible.

For a few years, Cass suffered a villain arc that portrayed her as the complete opposite of who she is: a ruthless killer rather than a compassionate hero who strove to never take a single life ever again after killing someone as a child. Furthermore, this arc erased her language disabilities, making her extremely proficient in multiple languages and completely ignoring her previous struggles to learn how to read and write. And finally, this arc was also extremely racist. Cass is half-Chinese, and this arc’s characterization of her was none other than an instance of the infamous “dragon lady” trope.

Propaganda:

She has canonically wiped the floor with Batman several times and has a room that is a complete disaster. She is everything.

#look how they massacred them poll #look how they massacred my girl #dc comics #cassandra cain #dc cassandra #batgirl cassandra cain

41 notes · View notes

saywhat-politics · 4 months

Text

In the runup to the 2020 election, a small news organization saw an opportunity.

The Epoch Times directed millions of dollars in advertising toward supporting President Donald Trump’s campaign and published dozens of articles parroting his lies about the election — resulting in huge growth to its audience and its coffers.

The strategy garnered criticism from fact-checking groups and got it banned from advertising on Facebook, but it ultimately paid off — putting the once-fringe newspaper on a path that perhaps only its leader, who claims to have supernatural powers, could have foreseen.

Today, The Epoch Times is one of the country’s most successful and influential conservative news organizations. It’s powered by Falun Gong, a religious group persecuted in China, which launched The Epoch Times as a free propaganda newsletter more than two decades ago to oppose the Chinese Communist Party.

Funded through aggressive online and real-world marketing campaigns and big-money conservative donors, The Epoch Times now boasts to be the country’s fourth-largest newspaper by subscriber count. (Unlike most major newspapers, The Epoch Times isn't audited by the two major independent collectors of circulation data.) The nonprofit has amassed a fortune, growing its revenue by a staggering 685% in two years, to $122 million in 2021, according to the group’s most recent tax records.

Its editorial vision — fueled by a right-wing slant and conspiracy theories — is on display in recent reports on how “Jan. 6 Capitol Hill Security Footage Challenges Key Narratives” and “Meteorologists, Scientists Explain Why There Is ‘No Climate Emergency.’” Its video series include a documentary-style film alleging widespread vaccine injury and death and an exposé of an alleged world government agenda to harm farmers, cull the population and force survivors to eat bugs.

What The Epoch Times lacks in standards, it makes up for in style and form, mirroring the aesthetics of journalism — a feature that’s attracted subscribers and big-name supporters.

Anti-vaccine activist and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls The Epoch Times a daily read, among his most trusted news sources. “They have a real bias against China, but on other reporting, they’re very courageous and it’s real journalism,” Kennedy said in an interview with NBC News this summer.

In July, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., recited the history of The Epoch Times into the congressional record. “This is all about one word: freedom,” Norman said.

The Epoch Times has yet to throw its weight behind a candidate for 2024, but heading into the election cycle, it is moving into new and bigger office spaces and production studios in California, hiring mainstream news veterans who are not affiliated with Falun Gong, and revving up an ad-buying blitz.

#epoch times

16 notes · View notes

the-monkey-ruler · 9 months

Text

Journey to the West Red Boy (2021) 西游魔童红孩儿

Director: Chen Juli

Screenwriter: Zhu Xuan / Bai Xiaolong / Guo Jiaming / Niu Mao Mao

Starring: Geng Yeting / Wa Er / Duan Xingyu / Lou Ming / Fang Jiayi / Heizi / Juanzi

Country/Region of Production: Mainland China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Date: 2021-09-01 (Network in Mainland China)

Type: Reimagining

Summary:

It tells the story of Red Boy, who has been accepted by Guanyin as the Boy of Good Fortune, and follows his teacher's order to go to the Tianji Trial Association to practice. He wanted to be a hero, but he was rejected by everyone because of his identity as an immortal and a demon. Facing the misunderstanding of the people and the coming catastrophe of the Three Realms, Red Boy resolutely abandons his prejudices at the critical moment, puts down his competitive spirit, and bravely faces the evil together with Nezha, Xiao Longnu and others, and finally defeats the devil and wins the recognition of the world’s story.

Source: http://chinesemov.com/2021/Red-Boy.html

Link: https://youtu.be/xKhtEfqN928

undefined

youtube

44 notes · View notes

tavina-writes · 7 months

Text

Fic Stats Game

thanks to @fortune-maiden for the tag! I'm chronically "oh no, people are perceiving me" but this should be interesting!

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

My hunch is that most of these will be Naruto fics because I have uhhh probably over 60 Naruto fics by now and that remains the fandom I'm most popular in by a long shot, so! We'll see what this turns up!

Most Hits: A Bolt of Silk: my beloved Uchiha Izuna/Original Female Character set in cdrama pastiche fic....I never knew why you became so popular or how you stayed that way, since I thought that like, maybe five people at best would read it, but I'm very fond of it as a fic! Probably my most perceived fic on AO3 to be honest.

Second Most Kudos: Prophet: this is a Naruto fandom style self insert reincarnation fic that looks at Self Inserts as an extended metaphor for immigration and what we leave behind when we do. The OFC is Hatake Sakumo's younger sister.

Third Most Comments: Three Lives, Three Worlds: Rebirth of the Spring: This is a surprise! But also RotS is a continuation fic of the small cdrama fandom of my heart (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms) and it's always been (to my heart anyway) surprisingly popular.

Fourth Most Bookmarks: My Teeth in Your Heart: Oh! this one is also pretty fun! This is my Nedsei canon divergence arranged marriage fic for A Song of Ice and Fire that I wrote for AU Ex way back in 2021. I'm very fond of it!

Fifth Most Words: all this scarcity promotes: I subtracted Bloodless from this word count thing because technically Bloodless is like, 300k+ I just haven't finished editing and reposting it yet, so the actual fifth most words is scarcity clocking in at just over 60k. This is another Naruto fic, set this time in a Chinese Republican Era/20th century China mashed up with Naruto WCE setting, wherein again I go for characters nobody's heard of and nobody likes and give the mike to Senju Butsuma.

Fewest Words: Subtracting the things that aren't uh. well. fics. (I at one point made 21 word clouds and posted some podfic and art over the course of my AO3 stay) I have this drabble: Autumn's Girl which is about Cho Chang from Harry Potter.

These were not all Naruto fics which is a bit surprising but I feel like a significant enough portion of them are Naruto fics so as to not be thaaat surprising. What can I say lol, this has often been a Naruto fanblog on main in the past.

tagging: @saiditallbefore, @woobifiedvillain, @xslytherclawx-writes, @im-sublimey, @quill-q, @lazuliquetzal, @julyflamewrites, @cerusee, and anyone else who sees this who wants to play!

#my writing #tag game

12 notes · View notes

zvaigzdelasas · 2 years

Text

In a sign of the upheaval created by China's shrinking real estate market, the industry has crowned a new sales king: state-owned Poly Development and Holdings Group. [...]

This new ranking shows how state-owned enterprises are climbing over private developers, thanks to better access to funding from government-controlled banks and other official support. In May, five of the top six developers which released monthly sales were state-owned.[...]

China Evergrande Group, which ranked second a year ago, has stopped disclosing monthly sales. Sunac China Holdings slipped to eighth from the very top a year ago after defaulting on $750 million offshore bond last month.[...]

Chinese developers saw their fortunes sink during the second half of 2021, when Beijing stepped in to curb speculative homebuying and clamp down on highly indebted private players.

17 Jun 22

76 notes · View notes

muwi-translates · 2 years

Text

Weekly Gundam News Comics (Gundam Wing)

Needed to scratch the translation itch - so I found a bunch of cute short gag comic strips of the boys! Sorry for the terrible cleaning for some of them, not my strong suit, unfortunately.

Some background information: these are from the Gundam Info website’s Weekly Gundam News column. I’ve picked out all the Gundam Wing ones, and usually they advertise some cute marketing event or are just funny. Keep in mind that since these comic strips span back to like, 2013, so a lot of these events are super outdated LOL. I’ll try to explain any references as they pop up.

These comic strips were drawn by 小林ミツツグ (who has been doing these for years now!!) and will be listed in ascending order.

Comics under the cut:

Posted: 30th April 2013

You are about to see A LOT OF THESE ‘Golden Week’-themed comics. The running joke is that GW can stand for both Golden Week and Gundam Wing so they really like turning it into a gag.

Golden Week is basically a week off for all major businesses/schools because it has public holidays back-to-back and goes from end of April to early May.

Wufei is sitting in a ‘shoubu-yu’, a type of bath children take on May 5 (Children’s Day) where you put Japanese iris roots and leaves in the water with you. It supposedly wards off illnesses and misfortune. ‘Shoubu’ is also a homophone with ‘duel’, so the bath is meant to give you luck in battle too. Very Wufei of him.

---

Posted: 15th Oct 2013

The thing he’s holding is less so a flipbook and more a picture book that is used with storytelling.

---

Posted: 30th Apr 2014

See? I told you.

---

Posted: 28th Apr 2015

---

Posted: 3rd May 2016

---

Posted: 2nd May 2017

---

Posted: 1st May 2018

Chimaki is a type of sticky rice dumpling wrapped in a bamboo leaf.

---

Posted: 7th May 2019

---

Posted: 8th Oct 2019

Referencing the line Relena says in the final episode where she tears up Heero’s letter.

---

Posted: 9th Oct 2019

I think this is referring to the 40th anniversary Gundam Beyond project?

Mala is a type of spicy and numbing Chinese seasoning. It’s pretty much just Sichuan peppers and other spices.

---

Posted: 19th Nov 2019

---

Posted: 22nd Sep 2020

Advertising for the Gundam Cafe x Namjatown collaboration. Look that one up - Heero looks goofy with cat ears, haha.

---

Posted: 15th Dec 2020

---

Posted: 5th Jan 2021

Their drinks include a o-mikuji which is normally a random slip of paper that has your fortune for the year written on it. You typically get them at shrines. If you get a bad fortune, you tie it to a tree or a fence with other bad fortunes. I assume this is like a chocolate version of that or something edible.

The standard ranking of fortunes goes from: great blessing, blessing, small blessing, half-blessing, future blessing, future small blessing, and misfortune.

---

Posted: 19th Jan 2021

Quatre here is referencing the scene where Heero punches Duo in the gut.

4DX is a movie experience where the seats move and like, water sprays on you and stuff to immerse you better into the movie. I didn’t know Endless Waltz got a 4DX version? Do they turn up the temperature when Quatre goes to retreive the Gundam when he’s near the sun LMAO??

---

Posted: 27th Apr 2021

---

Posted: 12th Oct 2021

#gundam wing #mytranslations #anime

40 notes · View notes

jcmarchi · 4 months

Text

Artistic Devotion – A Journey Through Horror And Success With Red Candle Games

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/artistic-devotion-a-journey-through-horror-and-success-with-red-candle-games/

Artistic Devotion – A Journey Through Horror And Success With Red Candle Games

Scaring players has helped put the small team at Red Candle Games on the map. Its first two titles, Detention and Devotion, impressed and terrified fans with frighteningly strong horror chops, but the team is leaving that behind to tackle something completely different in Nine Sols. This side-scrolling action platformer blends sci-fi with Chinese mythology and is Red Candle’s most ambitious project yet. This significant step forward affords an opportunity to look back on the studio’s young history, so we spoke with co-founder Vincent Yang to learn about how a small band of gamers in Taiwan formed one of the industry’s most promising – and, at one time, controversial – indie studios.

Red Candle Games began in 2014 when designer Coffee Yao was developing a prototype for Detention. The side-scrolling horror game features two students exploring a haunted high school in 1960s Taiwan, incorporating local cultural references rarely seen in games. These elements drew the attention of Henry and Light Wang during an indie developer meetup in Taipei. According to Yang, Detention impressed the Wangs enough for them to join the project. As the game grew in scope, the three recruited help from mutual friends – Doy Chiang, Hans Chen, and Yang himself – bumping the yet-to-be-named team to six members by late 2015. After working remotely on Detention for a period, the group decided a physical office was necessary, which led to the official formation of Red Candle Games.

Detention was released on Steam in January 2017 and was well-received by critics and players. The game has since been ported to multiple platforms and even adapted into a live-action film in 2019 (it premiered in the U.S. in 2021). Additionally, Netflix and Taiwan’s Public Television Service released a Detention TV show in 2020 – though with a different story from the movie.

Devotion

Red Candle followed this success with Devotion, an atmospheric first-person horror game set within a haunted apartment. Moving from 2D to 3D development is a big design shift, but Yang believes regularly changing gears like this is necessary to maintain fan interest.

“Because in this ever-changing and competitive gaming market, we often find it difficult to impress the players by applying the same techniques repeatedly, which pushes us to keep delivering new and innovative ideas,” Yang says. “This, in turn, changes the way we make games.”

After over two years of work, Devotion arrived on Steam in February 2019 to heaps of praise from the lucky players who managed to get their hands on it. But only two days after its launch, the game riled up controversy among Chinese players thanks to a piece of in-game art mocking China’s president, Xi Jinping, by calling him Winnie the Pooh, referencing an internet meme that unfavorably compares the leader’s appearance to the character. China and Taiwan have a tense relationship, so the resulting backlash from the country’s players and the government was severe enough to force Red Candle to pull Devotion from sale. The game’s Chinese publisher even lost its business license.

Red Candle Games’ founders, (left to right): Doy Chiang, Hans Chen, Coffee Yao, Vincent Yang, Henry Wang, and Light Wang

To the dismay of horror enthusiasts, Devotion remained delisted for over two years. Inklings of hope would occasionally arise, such as PC storefront GOG announcing plans to re-sell the game before it immediately back-peddled due to vaguely defined player complaints. Fortunately, Red Candle finally began re-selling Devotion directly through its website in March 2021, bringing its tumultuous journey to an end. Red Candle could move forward. “As a team, we felt relieved, as if a heavy weight was lifted from our shoulders,” says Yang.

Moving forward meant stepping away from horror to do something different. Enter Nine Sols, which Red Candle started working on a few months before Devotion’s original launch. Yang says the game originates from a concept he envisioned years prior based on the story of Hou Yi. In Chinese mythology, Hou Yi is a legendary archer who used his bow to rescue the country from plagues and saved the moon during an eclipse, among other supernatural feats. Yang proposed reworking this story into a science fiction tale, an idea that intrigued his teammates.

Nine Sols unfolds in the realm of New Kunlun, a sanctuary for humans created by nine god-like rulers. However, the population is unaware of New Kunlun’s sinister true purpose. That changes when a child awakens Yi, a cat-like hero that history has forgotten. Yi embarks on a quest to slay the nine rulers and free New Kunlun. The adventure sports a manga-inspired hand-drawn art direction blending cyberpunk/sci-fi with Chinese fantasy and Taoism. Gameplaywise, Nine Sols is a fast-paced 2D Metroidvania with Souls-like combat, as players hack apart enemies using Yi’s sword and parry attacks in a manner directly influenced by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

The project is a gamble, as the team leaves its comfort zone to make its first action platformer. Yang says with its art assets, gameplay mechanics, levels, animations, and 12-15 hour length, Nine Sols is the studio’s biggest title yet. But the team needed to do something different to avoid feeling burned out on horror while also taking advantage of the flexibility its team size affords.

Red Candle Games’ upcoming Nine Sols pays homage to the Chinese myth of Hou Yi, and features a manga-inspired art style

“Being an indie developer, in a way, makes us more versatile and gives us more room to be creative, meaning we have the privilege to experiment on different topics and gameplay,” Yang says. “It’s then reasonable that we want to leverage that versatility and explore other possibilities wherever we have the chance.”

Nine Sols is Red Candle’s first action game, but it’s leveraging its narrative chops to craft what Yang hopes will be a compelling story filled with rich lore to create what he describes as “a new kind of action platformer” – one with equal emphasis on engaging gameplay and storytelling.

Detention

Nine Sols also marks the team’s most serious attempt at penetrating the Western market. Detention and Devotion, despite their success, still appeal to relatively niche audiences. On the other hand, Nine Sols combines two very popular subgenres, and Yang hopes that results in the game making the biggest splash possible overseas and putting the studio on more people’s radars.

Nine Sols is currently slated to launch in Q1 2024, but curious players can play a free Steam demo. Depending on its success, the title could be a launch pad for other experiences that don’t focus exclusively on frightening players.

“If given the opportunity, I think we’d love to explore other genres in the future,” says Yang. “Deep down, we are simply a group of game creators who love all kinds of games. So as long as we ensure the product we produce will have guaranteed quality and doesn’t disappoint our current and future supporters, I find no reasons for us to be locked into the horror genre.”

As for Red Candle’s future, Yang believes maintaining its small size has its benefits. Since Devotion’s launch, only three new employees have joined, while one has left, meaning the studio has grown from 11 to 13 full-time staff members. While he’s happy with the advantages of running a small team – smoother communication and more room to experiment – he’s not opposed to expanding the studio’s size if needed. “I envision us as a resilient team that can embrace and adapts to any possible changes regardless of our size,” Yang says.

Nine Sols is the biggest test yet for the studio, eschewing almost everything that brought it success in an attempt to broaden its appeal by tackling a competitive genre. But Red Candle Games has proven its ability, resiliency, and versatility over its relatively young existence. We’re excited to see how it continues to delight – or terrify – its fans going forward.

This article originally appeared in Issue 356 of Game Informer

2 notes · View notes

cogitoergofun · 6 months

Text

In the runup to the 2020 election, a small news organization saw an opportunity.

What The Epoch Times lacks in standards, it makes up for in style and form, mirroring the aesthetics of journalism — a feature that’s attracted subscribers and big-name supporters.

[...]

“They take advantage of every opportunity,” Steinhauser, who is not currently working for The Epoch Times, continued. “They studied digital marketing. They learned how to work the system. And they did it. They're smarter than people give them credit for, and they’ve got the money to back it up.”

As a nonprofit, The Epoch Times is exempt from most federal taxes. Its mission, according to tax filings, is independent journalism, “outside of political interests and the pursuit of profit, for the public benefit and to be truly responsible to society.”

Neither the chairman nor the editor-in-chief of The Epoch Times returned multiple requests for comment. Representatives for The Epoch Times have previously defended it against critical reporting, labeling reports of the paper’s conservative mission, and its penchant for misinformation, “smears.”

Epoch Times representatives also deny an affiliation with Falun Gong, despite the two groups’ clear financial and organizational ties: The Epoch Times board members and most staff are Falun Gong practitioners. The nonprofits behind The Epoch Times and Friends of Falun Gong, the movement’s advocacy organization, share executives and provide grants and services to each other, according to tax filings. And the newspaper, along with a digital production company and the heavily advertised dance troupe Shen Yun, make up a nonprofit network that the leader of the religious movement calls “our media.”

In 2009, Li Hongzhi came to speak to his followers, volunteers who worked at The Epoch Times’ offices in Manhattan. Li’s instructions for the group were simple. They needed to reach people outside of the Falun Gong religious community. And they needed to make money. A lot of it.

“Ensure that the paper gains a foothold in ordinary society and turns profitable,” Li said.

[...]

The Epoch Times also employed a tactic more often associated with fake news content farms and scammers than news organizations, creating a network of inspiring and cute-content pages and fake accounts to inflate The Epoch Times' reach.

In 2019, following reporting by NBC News, Facebook found that The Epoch Times had “leveraged foreign actors posing as Americans to push political content” and banned it from future advertising, citing a violation of policies, including trying to circumvent review systems.

Undeterred, The Epoch Times pivoted to video, specifically YouTube, spending millions on internet-infamous ads featuring Roman Balmakov, a former Epoch Times delivery person who now hosts the online show Facts Matter. In the ads, Balmakov rails against the mainstream media, communism and the persecution of Trump.

[...]

“The dynamic for The Epoch Times changed in 2020, partly because of their criticism of China around Covid,” said A.J. Bauer, an assistant journalism professor at the University of Alabama who studies conservative media. “An entire new kind of ecosystem of Covid deniers and skeptics overlapped with right-wing media and were citing and drawing heavily upon The Epoch Times.”

The Epoch Times’ subscription page began hosting glowing testimonials from Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck and the far-right Arizona congressman Paul Gosar. The organization became a reliable source for misinformation around Covid, its treatments and the vaccines.

The Epoch Times was also an early and aggressive promoter of election misinformation, according to the Election Integrity Partnership, a coalition of researchers that documented misinformation and the 2020 vote. The group cited the news organization as a “repeat spreader” of false and misleading voter fraud stories as well as a major promoter of debunked conspiracy theories around Dominion voting machines and the “Stop the Steal” movement, aimed at overturning the election results. Months after the election, The Epoch Times refused to acknowledge the results.

With the new bedfellows came a new revenue stream. Though Falun Gong practitioners had been a reliable source of small donations in previous years, in 2020 the group started to receive gifts and grants from big money conservative donors.

While The Epoch Times is not required to list its donors, it reported $8.4 million in revenue from contributions and grants in 2020 and 2021. Tax documents from that period filed by scores of donors, accessed through ProPublica’s nonprofit explorer, show some of those funds came from conservative donors and foundations.

In 2021, The Epoch Times received $55,750 from the National Christian Charitable Foundation, which connects anonymous donors with Christian causes, and $31,000 from Donors Trust, a fund for conservative and libertarian donors. Smaller donations came from individuals — real estate agents, investors and surgeons among them — and small family foundations, most of which support right-wing causes, including evangelical Christian groups, anti-vaccine groups and far-right media organizations.

3 notes · View notes

outsidereveries · 9 months

Note

May you do a reading on if Kep1er’s Shen Xiaoting enjoys or regrets becoming a K-pop idol? I read somewhere she originally wanted to become an actress, but that her agency convinced her to go down the idol route and compete on Girls Planet 999. She looked visibly distraught at the end of the show becoming the last contestant announced to make it in and also being the only Chinese trainee to make it in the group. Since 2021, she hasn’t been able to go back home to China or see her family physically until very recently this past month, after Kep1er wrapped up a Japan concert tour. Fortunately, her fellow group members do seem to care and are there for her, and she’s also made friendships with other Chinese/Taiwanese idols in the industry. May you also read if she will start a career in China after Kep1er disbands or if she will continue an idol career in South Korea(the “Sakura route”, as you said before).

She likes being a k-pop idol. It brings her to many opportunities from many aspects according to her. She loves to perform and is glad the idol life has worked out in some way.

However, she also wants this to be fair. Xiaoting feels this doesn’t serve everyone right. She might’ve been abused/bullied before about something that she said. Xiaoting seems to be too mature about this kind of job, which in my opinion is great. The job itself seem to be very awkward and she’s just not satisfied. It looks like this is related to WAKEONE’s management.

After Kep1er, her path still seems to be uncertain. Xiaoting might realise she’s dependent on something related to her individual career. She might realise where she wants to focus, but until then.. I’m not sure about what she wants to do.

#outsidereveries #tarot reading #tarot #kpop tarot #tarot kpop #kpop tarot reading #kpop #kpop reading #tarot reading kpop #shen xiaoting #xiaoting #kep1er #career tarot #tarot career

6 notes · View notes

angelindisguise2007 · 2 years

Text

Manifestation Success stories #1

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Sharing some of my success stories because I just hit 40 followers!

(They're not in order)

School

Didn't want to go to school so i affirmed in my head that I'm not going to school today a couple of times and went back to sleep, I wake up again seeing that its 11 in the morning and my mom comes in my room with breakfast, She didnt tell me why I didn't wake up for school or anything about school.

January 2021

This was before I knew what the law of assumption was I only knew the law of attraction.

On tiktok. I saw people doing the 369 method to manifest money, a text and Fame.

So I said to myself I want to try this method out! So I did and i wrote my name 3 times in the morning, My desire (Money) 6 times in the afternoon, then the Affirmation 9 times at night then i forgot about it. Next morning my mom says me and my sister split the 50$! I of course split mines on robux.

Food

Soo I dont remember when I manifested this but i know it was last year, I wanted some Chinese food so all I said was "I have Chinese food" and some other Affirmations i forgot what else I said. A week or two passed and then boom, I come out of my room seeing some Chinese food on the table. Mostly orange chicken, noodles, fortune cookies, teriyaki and some other stuff.

Text message

This was yesterday! I wanted to manifest a text message from my bf at night so i just said "He constantly texts me" "I'm gonna get a message from him now" "he's going to message me" Then I went to bed because I was tired. Woke up seeing 3 messages from him!

Sickness

This year on February and the beginning of may, I was sick twice, i said in my head that "My sickness will go away right now" after when I said that I continued eating my crackers and tea. 20 or 30 minutes later. I don't feel like throwing up I felt alot more better!

That's all the stories i got for now But I have some more to tell you guys later. last thing i gotta say is that keep persisting and don't go back to the old story !!!

#law of assumption #loassumption #master manifestor #manifestation #manifestingmindset #affirming #self concept #success stories #success story #manifest

26 notes · View notes

kiratheperson · 1 year

Text

I posted 24,119 times in 2022

That's 21,589 more posts than 2021!

8 posts created (0%)

24,111 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bobo-the-part-time-clown

@elytrians

@edelgard-enjoyer

@fardf150

@ziseviolet

I tagged 2,185 of my posts in 2022

#goncharov - 549 posts

#unreality - 324 posts

#aesthetic - 250 posts

#save - 243 posts

#overgrown aesthetic - 43 posts

#dracula - 41 posts

#dracula daily - 38 posts

#<- prev tags - 18 posts

#this is beautiful - 16 posts

#me - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i could have gotten ‘total loser of a guy who will never amount to anything’ as a result and it would have been less devastating then this

My Top Posts in 2022:

changed my theme >:)

0 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

I think u may be stuck on the dashboard of 4 days ago but u should know that martin scorsese himself reacted to goncharov 😳

Yes I do know!!!! It’s amazing this is peak goncharov

The reason Im reblogging posts from 4 days ago is cuz I hit the post limit in like 4 hours on the first day of goncharov and then I filled up my queue with at least 400 goncharov posts. In addition to the normal posts. So now I have 500 posts in my queue. I regret nothing.

2 notes - Posted November 26, 2022

omg that’s adorable I love it

how has your day been btw?

2 notes - Posted October 26, 2022

hey feel free to answer this privately or just . ignore it + I'm not sure how to phrase this well but ... are u Asian ? (LMAO) I don't see a lot of queer Asian ppl in my specific tumblr circle so I'm always happy and surprised when I see other asian ppl on here . sorry if this is a weird question ✋🥲

Yeah I'm Chinese!!! Dw, I'm cool with this kinda question, you know since it's in good faith and all. And I get it cuz it's always awesome to see other queer Asians :D

2 notes - Posted September 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hello, I'm once again asking you about your OCs because I'm curious! I hope that's okay? Who are Iphi and Jack? I love the first one's name. And if I remember right Jack is aro? That's neat, I haven't really seen a lot of aro characters before! /pos

Thank you for the ask!!! Sorry this is pretty late btw, I haven’t had time to answer it lol

(That’s Iphi on the left, Jack on the right. First is a picrew, second isn’t my art but like. I haven’t drawn Jack yet so that’s kinda their ref for now)

But it is rant time!! Imma start with Iphi! Because I kinda need to explain her to give context for Jack’s lore.

So Iphi is the god of sacrifice in this little fantasy world I made, Kunyang! She’s a pretty old god, a couple of thousand years old, but she’s still the second youngest one lol.

In Kunyang, gods are born when they sprout from the seeds of the god tree. The god tree is in the divine realm, which is a different realm entirely from the physical realm, but very rarely, a god seed can arrive in the physical realm.

Anyways, this seed fell into the hands of a very magically powerful person. They had magic potential that could honestly rival a god- and yeah, they believed they were destined for great things because of it. So, they were determined to be the person who caused the god seed to sprout.

So in Kunyang, there was once this library called the Archives, run by the god of knowledge himself, Ephius. This person went to Ephius, and they were told that the seed was for the god of sacrifice. Ephius told the person that to sprout a god seed, they’d need sacrifices from thousands of people. This person wanted to do it, all by themself.

And so, they sacrificed everything. Family, friends, fortune, and fame. All gone, in the hopes of making a legacy. The seed did not sprout, because it wasn’t enough. So this person decided that they would need to make a very big sacrifice, one big enough to make the seed sprout.

They decided to banish the Archives from the physical realm into the divine realm, sacrificing humanity’s access to the library of all knowledge. And that was indeed a big enough sacrifice to give birth to a new god!

And that’s how Iphi was created. But the thing is- that’s really not how you’re supposed to create a god. So she was kind of corrupted from birth. This corruption prevented her from having a lot of character traits that one might consider important to being human.

Iphi does not feel happiness, or satisfaction. No sorrow or regret. Nothing of that sort. But she is working towards a goal: and that is creating a legacy. Having an effect on the world. (Her only contributor to her creation imprinted heavily on her.)

And because of that, she is very active in all manners of sacrifice. Every day, she’s constantly getting people to make sacrifices to her, amassing followers in many different lands. This also increases her powers heavily.

The way her powers work, they’re kinda like payment based. She gets someone to sacrifice something for her, and she can create something else of equal value to that something. (The more important that something was to the person who sacrificed it, the more she can create and do.) Like, she could make a giant wall of fire, or acid rain, or bury a country in gold if she had enough magic. Which she absolutely does. But she mostly saves the magic potential she receives for later.

And also, Iphi doesn’t truly care about anything other than making a mark on the world. She doesn’t mind if people die or suffer because her sacrifices took something too important- if anything, she wants to do that, because it’s quite a way of making your mark on the world.

Oh, and I gotta add- she can’t do this all without a little help! And that’s where Jack comes in.

They’re also a couple thousand years old, but quite younger than Iphi. So they used to be a court jester. Mortal and everything. They should have had a life of a normal length, be just another person in the world, but then they fell in love with Iphi.

And yeah they’re aromantic! It’s not romantic love, it’s alterous love. But yeah they felt a deep emotional attraction, and they wanted to be in a relationship (not a romantic or platonic one though). Anyways, Iphi doesn’t feel the same way. She doesn’t love Jack. But she thought it was convenient to have someone in love with her, and to keep them around, so she offered Jack a sacrifice.

She’d give them eternity, and they would be her servant.

Jack honestly didn’t want to do that at first, but then they had a near-death experience, and agreed to her terms.

So Iphi took their physical body, and also their independence.

Because it would be inconvenient if her servant got bored or wanted to take back the sacrifice. So Jack quite literally cannot think unless she wills it. They’re barely conscious until Iphi needs them, and only then can they think again.

Jack isn’t even aware this happens. To them, it feels like they just woke up, or they just simply forgot what happened during that time

Iphi also messed with Jack’s mind a bit, to amplify their devotion. And yeah, Jack is completely, utterly devoted to her. They would die for her, they’d be tortured for her, they would kill for her too. Nothing is off the table. They’d do anything she says. And they truly love her.

Jack mostly stays in the divine realm, usually, until Iphi sends them to the physical realm to do something for her. That something is usually extorting people to get more sacrifices. Jack pretty much curses people, and then offers to remove that curse in exchange for a sacrifice. (That’s how Janessa got cursed, actually [have I talked about her?] but Jack forgot they cursed her lmao.)

Anywayssss there is some more lore, but this is pretty fucking long already lmao so Imma just end this here. Unless you’d like to hear more!!

3 notes - Posted September 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #yeahhhhh my top post was 3 notes lol

5 notes · View notes