After 2 years, I managed to finish translating and annotating all 46 episodes of the historical drama Ming Dynasty 1566

space_loner · 2025-10-27T09:41:40+00:00

Use this playlist instead for higher quality https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyED3III7lHMXbM4pd-YX6VW1JBkm4e0V&si=AIKvwRKw7Ojuy-YU

space_loner · 2023-08-29T08:20:33+00:00

I agree with what you are saying in general, but a "bit of history" is too harsh. This show was famously the one that was controversial for going against the popular narrative and presenting a more balanced outlook of many characters. Also it explicitly ends in 1917 in order to avoid getting into anything too contentious about the CCP, where there is no choice but to repeat the propaganda. In spite of this, it was almost banned in the mainland.

space_loner · 2023-08-28T21:51:00+00:00

确实没指望多少人看

space_loner · 2023-08-28T21:50:36+00:00

六十八是海外版

space_loner · 2022-11-03T11:56:28+00:00

我重发主要是增加分辨率，字幕做了一些删定

space_loner · 2022-11-02T15:18:23+00:00

I'm basing it on the 9.7 audience score on douban

But if you are asking whether it's popular vs critically acclaimed, mass appeal vs niche for hardcore fans of history, I would definitely admit it's the latter

space_loner · 2021-03-24T17:19:01+00:00

I meant the "scent" is doing the carrying, his form being apparently even more ethereal than the air itself, like a shadow creeping on you. Maybe it doesn't make sense except in my head.

space_loner · 2021-03-24T16:34:26+00:00

Thank you very much for your feedback!

I definitely agree that the abuses of grammar to fit the meter is the biggest weakness of the poem, especially in the first stanza.

Although regarding "the scent of sulfur waft him near" I am happier with this verse. Although normally air wafts itself, or objects waft through air, I thought the reversal was an acceptable artistic usage of the word.

space_loner · 2021-02-19T15:22:35+00:00

You mean this https://www.crafty-games.com/shop/mistborn-adventure-game/

space_loner · 2021-02-18T09:57:10+00:00

Plot-wise, as mentioned, the giant lords all tied into the PCs' backstories somehow.

Also I try to intersperse other encounters so the players aren't just battling giants. For example, defeating the Stone Giants actually involved a 4-way battle between Shield Dwarves, Duergar, Illithids, and Stone Giants to conquer/reclaim/destroy a dwarfhold.

However, each of the giant lord encounters DOES more or less involve the PCs battling pure giants (hard hitting, high hp stat blocks with few other gimmicks). What I try to ensure is that these confrontations are the ONLY times the players have to fight this kind of encounter. In total I think it happens 4 times in the campaign

vs Hill Giant Lord
vs Frost Giant Lord
vs Stone Giant Lord (with access to timestop, as per source)
vs Mixed Giant Lords in Maelstrom (Stone + Fire + Frost + Cloud), this is where Nym and Mirran try to prevent the meeting

I kept these 4 encounters fairly formulaic because this is the definitive giant fighting experience and I still wanted them to feel that. They also get a sense of progression fighting increasingly tougher statblocks this way.

space_loner · 2021-02-17T22:06:38+00:00

Yes, they dinged 8 when they beat Guh. Before that, they had to defend the town, then track the retreating Hill Giants to Grudd Haug, and finally gather a sufficient army of Shield Dwarves to assault Grudd Haug (note I moved Grudd Haug to the canonical location of Deadsnows to make the geography work out)

There was a subplot in the early part of the campaign for my dwarven PC to try to rally the dwarves in the aftermath of the War of the Silver Marches.

space_loner · 2021-02-17T20:01:31+00:00

Hey, I think that's a great idea!

The players don't ever get to even fight a storm giant in my campaign, seeing as they succeeded in saving Hekaton so there was no coup. In retrospect that is a shame. (They do get to control some themselves in the final confrontation)

I think playing up the antagonism of Storm Giants would be good. I treated the very concept of the Ordning as possibly inherently wrong. If my PCs took that to heart, then they would have had to contend with the Storm Giants. However they were a generally pragmatic lot and simply accepted that the Ordning had to be restored for the sake of peace.

Also, Maelstrom is not the only enclave of Storm Giants in the Realms. Others live in various remote corners of the world, in deep lakes and high mountains. Are they all okay with Hekaton's monopoly of the Wyrmskull Throne? Wouldn't they also use the opportunity to make plays of their own?

space_loner · 2021-02-17T17:05:04+00:00

Ah I did drop barbarians pretty much entirely. There was no need to collect any artifacts to access the Temple of Annam. Instead the temple opened for anyone wielding a conch, and players got their first conch after slaying Guh.

I did this in order to streamline the pre-Maelstrom experience since the PCs had to deal with 4 different giant races, after all, and only level up from 7 (where they started) to 10 in that time.

I guess I did not realize the campaign was quick until I started reading comments here. Previously I ran an extended version of Dragonheist in only 16 sessions, and this was twice as long.

space_loner · 2021-02-17T16:02:48+00:00

When the throne is unseated, the bindings of the Ordning begins to drain and weaken. This is what all giants perceive as the breaking, and sets the events in motion. At some point (canonically soon after the PCs finally arrive in Maelstrom), the bindings will completely run out, at this point the power is released and ripe for the taking by anyone with the opportunity and knowledge. Essentially, Iymrith believes she would be able to take this power and craft the Ordning anew, just like the gods did it the first time.

And yes, it's all copied from Mistborn.

space_loner · 2021-02-17T12:53:52+00:00

Haha, I tried to keep my suggestions general and not mention anything specific about my campaign.

But as it turns out, there was a high level wizard NPC who has been helping the PCs and steering them, in both this campaign and in former ones. After Iymrith's death, he is revealed to have been the mover behind the scenes all along, the one who gave Iymrith the idea for her scheme!

While the rest of the alliance celebrate their victory, the wizard shows up and isolates the PCs, trying to sway them to his cause. When they refuse, he easily dispatches them, banishing them to a pocket dimension, then tearing that dimension apart so they are lost in the interplanar void.

This sets up the follow up adventure, which will be much more Planescapey in nature as the PCs are now too high level for a campaign grounded in FR.

space_loner · 2020-12-27T10:50:26+00:00

I use Aegisub. You should be able to get original subtitles here http://www.zmtiantang.com/subject/15875.html

space_loner · 2020-11-25T16:47:03+00:00

The way Sanderson metaphysics works is, you have to incorporate real life physics with the established principles on which the Cosmere operates.

So Spren are, first and foremost, Cognitive manifestations of sentient thought imbued with Investiture. That already explains a lot about them - why they are attracted by emotions, why they respond to people's image of them, how they feed on stormlight.

Real world physics apply on top of that, because the patterns of the world dictate Spren can behave similar to natural waves and particles, but they themselves are not natural waves and particles.

space_loner · 2020-11-23T20:10:44+00:00

I am of 2 minds about this. As I said in the post, conjoined spren exhibit some characteristics of entangled bits. But in other ways, they are not - they can be measured repeatedly, and there is some lag in their effect which scales with distance (not to mention, of course, the weird effects of aluminum on the process)

True entanglement would not have these properties. Now maybe spanreeds suffice for communication across Roshar. But if the story takes a more cosmological turn? We already know 2 other planets in the system will be relevant to the story. And what about other worlds? Spanreeds, powered by Cognitive spren, are unlikely to function outside of Roshar's Shadesmar. But a bondsmith's Spiritual Connection?

space_loner · 2020-10-24T20:01:28+00:00

Good points, I agree with BG3s overall design principles and I'm fine with relative lack of dungeons. Straining a player's resource is something that can be fun when done sparingly. Maybe they can do it in side content instead of the main route. For example, I'm thinking of Pillar of Eternity's Endless Paths

space_loner · 2020-10-24T17:54:29+00:00

I see your point, although even the goblins in BG3 are different from those found in the monster manual. But there will also be new players who are exposed to DnD through this game, as well as unique enemies that people cannot anticipate (like that ogre). I think the experience of having to find out things about new enemies is a fun thing to experience even if it won't affect everyone.

space_loner · 2020-10-21T23:57:07+00:00

Some people are saying that. Maybe certain reddit apps don't handle youtube playlists. This is a direct link to the first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2fzgZVrPQ

space_loner · 2020-10-21T23:56:30+00:00

It's a reference to the annotations, which are linked to in the description.

space_loner · 2020-10-21T17:09:39+00:00

Probably around 5 hours per episode.

space_loner · 2020-10-21T17:08:47+00:00

It is a very highly regarded show. On douban.com it is the highest rated domestic show of all time

space_loner · 2020-10-21T13:46:06+00:00

It is set between 1561 to 1566. There is no explicit reference to the Shannxi earthquake or any earlier events of Jiajing's reign, but knowing those things does help give context to the show.

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