Watching the next AQ trailer, I’m afraid the story will be on the difficult side in terms of vocab, concepts and lore. I hope it will be okay. They kept showing a countdown too, I feel like next AQ is going to be quite intense!
I’m very tempted to pull for Varessa’s weapon.
I finished the first part, it’s difficult to read, but interesting. You can tell it’s not just about writing a book, and it feels like the narrator is hiding something. The first part was a conversation between the two protagonists, I wonder if this is going to be the structure for the whole book, or if it will change. It’s interesting to see who is actually pulling the strings, who is manipulating the other and who decides the direction the conversation takes.
Xunhuan’s attitude towards Shiyin is so annoying and frustrating to read.
When I played the first time, I had no idea that 冯继升冯继升féng jì shēngFeng Jisheng第一章·神仙不渡A disciple of the Wenjin Pavilion (文津馆) who came to Qinghe on orders and who trained in archery under his senior martial brother Tian Ying. After Tian Ying departed, he spent over a decade developing the wondrous martial art technique known as Halting the Depths and Calming the Waters (停渊止水). He is loosely based on a real Song official who presented a fire arrow method 火箭法 to the Emperor, using gunpowder on the arrow.中国古代火箭baike.baidu.com was 田英田英tián yīngTian Ying义士yì shìrighteous man第一章·神仙不渡A disciple or follower (门人) of Wei, described as an honorable and righteous man (义士). He obtained a certain item, risked his life to deliver a message, and ended up trapped in Southern Tang.’s disciple. It’s fine to just play the dialogues, but reading everything does bring more lore and the experience is even more enjoyable. I think that’s how I’m going to play the game, slow and thorough, to make the most out of the story and the world building. I really hope that reading Gu Long and playing WWM will end up paying off in terms of vocabulary and simply being more confortable with classical-sounding Chinese.
I did Vesna’s anecdote, it was so funny! It’s cool that it’s a sequel to Vodyanitsa’s.
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 交头接耳 | jiāo tóu jiē ěr | to whisper to one another's ear |
| 监守自盗 | jiān shǒu zì dào | to embezzle |
| 以权谋私 | yǐ quán móu sī | to use one's position for personal gain (idiom) |
| 小金库 | xiǎo jīn kù | supplementary cash reserve; private fund |
| 保护伞 | bǎo hù sǎn | fig. person affording protection (esp. corrupt) |
This passage was so funny, but so many new words too! I only knew 交头接耳. As often, the meaning is easy to guess, but I’m adding them to my flashcards.
I read her character story 2, this one was much easier! and quite short too. It was a really nice read.
Oh no, the beginning was not easy to read… I even thought for a second of putting it aside and read something else instead.
But tackling difficult books is also a way to improve, and the beginning might be the most difficult part. I hope it gets easier… Anyway, only read a few pages, but I need a break already! Start is very engaging though, I like it.
Halfway through! I find this quite entertaining.
I was interested in reading 被害動機 by 麟左馬, the book was finalist in the 2023 edition of the 島田莊司推理小說獎, but I cannot find this book anywhere. It’s possible it never got published…?
Ah!! Nevermind, 被害動機 has been published and is available, it just got a new title: 客製死亡. So this is going to be my next read!
I was interested in reading 被害動機 by 麟左馬, the book was finalist in the 2023 edition of the 島田莊司推理小說獎, but I cannot find this book anywhere. It’s possible it never got published…?
Since I read the winner of the 2023 edition 島田莊司推理小說獎 as well as one of the two finalists and the other one doesn’t seem available, I’m moving on to the 2021 edition.
I’m actually confused because the three books (winner, and two runner ups) are published by Crown publishing, but it’s not the case for the 2023 edition. Apparently, the organiser changed from Crown publishing to Taiwan Crime Writers' Association, which explains why the 2023 books didn’t get the unified publication style the books of 2021 have. And it also looks like the 2025 edition was cancelled, though I don’t know why. So next one will be 2027 (it’s every two years).
Anyway, I’ll read all three books from 2021, and work my way back towards the older editions, but will prioritise the 2027 ones once they release.
I was interested in reading 被害動機 by 麟左馬, the book was finalist in the 2023 edition of the 島田莊司推理小說獎, but I cannot find this book anywhere. It’s possible it never got published…?
Since I read the winner of the 2023 edition 島田莊司推理小說獎 as well as one of the two finalists and the other one doesn’t seem available, I’m moving on to the 2021 edition.
I’m actually confused because the three books (winner, and two runner ups) are published by Crown publishing, but it’s not the case for the 2023 edition. Apparently, the organiser changed from Crown publishing to Taiwan Crime Writers' Association, which explains why the 2023 books didn’t get the unified publication style the books of 2021 have. And it also looks like the 2025 edition was cancelled, though I don’t know why. So next one will be 2027 (it’s every two years).
Anyway, I’ll read all three books from 2021, and work my way back towards the older editions, but will prioritise the 2027 ones once they release.
Ah!! Nevermind, 被害動機 has been published and is available, it just got a new title: 客製死亡. So this is going to be my next read!
Oh no, Petit Planet pre-launch SP announcement!! Real life is soon over…
I love it when a bunch of new characters are introduced!
The first time I played Where Winds Meet, I did a bit of everything (exploration, farming, main story, etc.) but without looking anything up, and I was constantly confused by what was happening or what I was supposed to do. Then I dropped the game, then came back with the idea of only playing the main story, but again without properly studying, I was left with too many incomprehensible things and I was not playing regularly, so I was also constantly forgetting what happened and what I was supposed to do next.
Now it’s decided, I’m starting a new account, and will play thoroughly: try to 100% a region before moving on to the next and treat the main story like a wuxia novel, which means taking notes about characters and lore, study passages I don’t understand, etc.
At this pace, I’ll probably never catch up with the releases, but I’m not really seeing WWM as a live service game. Gacha is much too expensive, and I’m not even a big fan of most of the outfits, I like the free one we get through the story the most.
Second episode was very good too! I like that the humour is created by the cinematography like how it’s filmed and edited, rather than coming from the characters or the story, which often ruins a good crime setting for me. Characters stay true, the story is suspenseful and murder is treated seriously, but the directorial style gives a whimsical touch to several scenes. It’s very well done.
