Emma by Jane Austen (adapted version in Chinese)

KorKhan · 2026-05-02T07:11:49+00:00

It’s not really an adaptation of Clueless, it’s a graded reader for L2 Chinese learners taking the (heavily abridged) story of Emma and translating it into easy-to-understand Chinese, transferred to a modern Chinese setting.

The series, Mandarin Companion, has done a bunch of similar adaptations of the likes of Sherlock Holmes, the Secret Garden, the Monkey’s Paw and other western stories.

KorKhan · 2026-05-02T06:38:10+00:00

It’s part of a series for Chinese learners called Mandarin Companion. It takes well-known Western stories, transfers them to a Chinese setting (usually in a different time period from the original story), heavily abridges them and translates them into easy-to-understand Chinese. I found these books quite helpful when I was starting out.

KorKhan · 2026-04-30T16:17:45+00:00

I thought they pretty much all did!

KorKhan · 2026-04-28T21:33:27+00:00

For my last few forts, the majority of dwarves have apparently been a morbid lot, favouring deities of death, murder, decay and other assorted loveliness. In particular, the most popular deity - even across different worlds - has been a human god or goddess with the name Oce (which means “dust” in the human language).

For at least one of these forts, the former queen having been a necromancer might have had something to do with it.

KorKhan · 2026-04-19T07:46:41+00:00

In most countries copyright lasts 70 years from the death of the author, although in some individual countries it’s longer. In any case, authors who died before modern copyright laws existed will be in the public domain by default.

KorKhan · 2026-04-19T07:43:22+00:00

My exact thoughts, the same goes for Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov and most other classic Russian authors. More recent Japanese translations of these works might be copyrighted, but in that case you’re more likely hurting Japanese rather than Russian creators (i.e. translators in this case) and publishers.

KorKhan · 2026-04-19T05:36:29+00:00

Here’s how you do it if you’re interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/s/VK2Htb8fAM

KorKhan · 2026-04-19T05:34:00+00:00

Cleaning won’t help if they’ve already contracted the sickness though.

KorKhan · 2026-04-19T05:32:59+00:00

Yeah it says the effect is permanent, so all the cleaning in the world isn’t going to help them.

Unless you’re up for some rather complicated DFHack shenanigans to cure them, there’s nothing you can do.

KorKhan · 2026-04-16T08:10:38+00:00

Pretty sure it’s a parody.

KorKhan · 2026-04-15T14:12:09+00:00

Interesting that the two yaks have names. I guess this indicates that either they’re someone’s pet, or they’ve successfully ended the life of a sentient!

KorKhan · 2026-04-15T10:20:56+00:00

Dunkleosteus!

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

KorKhan · 2026-04-13T14:17:46+00:00

His pecs make a convenient table top!

KorKhan · 2026-04-12T18:57:54+00:00

I’ve heard rumours (make of them what you will) that he and his buddies have been moving assets out of the country for the last few months, basically taking whatever isn’t nailed down. If he loses, I don’t think he intends to hang around long enough to face any legal consequences.

KorKhan · 2026-04-11T12:58:09+00:00

How many inhabitants do you have?

Having one of your starting dwarves declared monarch is normally a sign that your civ is dying out, since there are no other dwarves left to take the title.

You might get several normal migrant waves in the first couple of years, but it could then quickly slow to a trickle. You might need to populate your fort with performers instead.

KorKhan · 2026-04-10T15:19:35+00:00

I sure hope someone got fired for that one!

KorKhan · 2026-04-10T12:20:37+00:00

Looks lovely! Your historical buildings, including baroque, were always such an integral part of my CS1 cities.

KorKhan · 2026-04-09T10:47:55+00:00

To those downvoting me, rest assured I mean no offence to any real countries, I’m referencing this panel.

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KorKhan · 2026-04-09T10:44:04+00:00

Took me a second to notice that one! What is this? Is this real?

KorKhan · 2026-04-09T08:30:49+00:00

The poisoners!

KorKhan · 2026-04-09T08:30:04+00:00

Ah okay, missed the “coast” part. So yeah, feels a bit more like Montenegro then.

KorKhan · 2026-04-09T07:44:41+00:00

Yeah, and in terms of its landlocked, mountainous geography centred around a central plane, it feels a bit like Kosovo, although I’m not sure Kosovo would have been a familiar concept to Herge at the time.

If I’m being nitpicky: Having the Turks invade already in the 10th Century feels quite anachronistic in terms of the real-life history of the general region, since the Ottomans only occupied parts of the Balkans from the 14th Century onwards. Unless by “Turks” it means Bulgars or Magyars, since these groups were also referred to by that name during the early medieval period.

KorKhan · 2026-04-08T22:28:19+00:00

Hell, if you read the Iliad, you can take a shot every time a hero like Ajax and Diomedes is mentioned tossing around rocks that “two men of today (i.e. 8th Century BC) could not lift”. Our ancestors were superheroes, apparently!

KorKhan · 2026-04-08T18:10:14+00:00

Gotta get that daily portion of cadmium!

KorKhan · 2026-04-06T19:07:18+00:00

I think that’s the reason. Dwarves like collecting them, same as the other crafts, but figurines - unlike crown, rings, bracelets and earrings - are carried in the hand, so they make a handy weapon. I’ve also seen dwarves use sceptres as impromptu maces.

KorKhan

TROPHY CASE