Well, cannot find my Japanese-English dictionary, and went to see what Babel fish would do with what I wanted. A Chinese translation would be acceptable, too
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I suppose one could even have some kind of progression, where you start out as a shenian - kind of a journeyman (probably not just a student) - progress into a shecai... and then very senior respected folks would be a shishi (时师 - totally different words, different tones, etc - though there are like twenty characters for shi pronounced in the fourth tone, and there are classic drinking rhymes where every character is some version of shi or si).
I remember the tongue-twister in Bridge of Birds that was referred to. The more I know about Chinese and Japanese, the more impressed I am by people who learn it as adults.
I like your idea of multiple levels of learning for a time master -- that makes perfect sense for the culture. Laoshi -- is that three syllables? These are Chinese words, yes? That is your specialty, isn't it?
The convergence of Taoist and Buddhist beliefs with magic makes complete sense. I figured that my dragon would have started studying martial arts even as a dragon -- and continued, changing forms, exploring new ones. Part of what he is currently using is Aikido, which of course is very young, because it's one he can use without killing people.
I'm guessing that a man who has used martial arts to stay alive might use every trick in his arsenal to avoid killing people in 21st century America. Attracts too much attention, and also, he learned enough of the Tao and Buddhist tradition that he doesn't like to kill.
But I was going to ask people for suggested forms of martial arts for him to learn later on. The main POV character does not know individual martial arts, and it all looks magical to her! In the second or third book, I might get brave enough to try some small sections from his POV.
"Bu Long" also might suggest that he's learning to be a dragon, which in a weird sense is true. He's going to have the unnerving experience of being a full-fledged magic user while learning how to fly. Not amusing.
Lord Dragon is not something he would use to refer to himself -- although he is a son of his clan's matriarch, and his father's only son, making him a lord of his people. People who are afraid of him and trying to be respectful would call him this. But not necessarily the Asian community? The English and Hispanic populations. (Is Asian community preferable to Oriental community?) Among dragons, "lord" suggests very ancient lines, more dragon blood than human blood mixed in, a very powerful magic user (the greatest can call and control multiple force hurricanes) and a principal heir of his father's horde, should something happen to Dear Old Dad.
Asians in the know perceive him as a very powerful and scholarly magic user. Most do not know that he IS a dragon lord. So yes, humans would use a word that reflects scholar (he deals on the side in magic books, always looking for new ones) or magician.
" I like your idea of multiple levels of learning for a time master -- that makes perfect sense for the culture. Laoshi -- is that three syllables? These are Chinese words, yes? That is your specialty, isn't it?"
Laoshi is two syllables (in Chinese, all characters are one syllable) and yeah, Chinese. It's my strongest language, anyway - I'm off doing a doctorate in neurobiology, so it mostly gets used in the martial arts and chan parts of my life, though I sometimes talk to academic students as well.
"Part of what he is currently using is Aikido, which of course is very young, because it's one he can use without killing people."
Mm. So Aikido is hardly the only art that teaches non lethal and defensive techniques. There are some that are pretty heavily weighted towards lethality, but many more that aren't - Aikido may not teach offensive techniques, but other than that it's not nearly as unique as it sometimes bills itself. (Which is not to say that it's can't be a damn fine art.) The Shaolin Gongfu I study amuses me in part because it has a lot of different levels of harm - and one of the versions of "mild" is explicitly for people you want to be able to interact with socially later on. Y'know, when Uncle Harry has had a few too many on Thanksgiving... (Chen Taijiquan - my primary art - has a terribly peaceful reputation, though there's a lot of room for lethality under that hood.) If he's trained in other martial arts, while he might find good people and interesting philosophy in Aikido, I doubt he'd find new material as such.
" "Bu Long" also might suggest that he's learning to be a dragon, which in a weird sense is true. He's going to have the unnerving experience of being a full-fledged magic user while learning how to fly. Not amusing."
It's not going to be a direct meaning, but I could see him thinking that to himself.
My understanding is that "Oriental" carries pretty unfortunate whiffs of imperialism and cultural weirdness with it, and is generally best not used. (Though some people will argue for its use regarding rugs.) You will run into people discussing whether there really is an "Asian" community, as opposed to a Chinese community, a Vietnamese community, etc - but there does seem to be an emergent pan-Asian identity.
As to things he might be called... I'd be tempted to say 龙士 (longshi). (Bah - I do like the fantizi character for dragon a lot better.) Shi is rather understated, but an absolutely ancient word - it means scholar (though it can also mean gentleman, or even warrior - kind of in that "officer and a gentleman" sort of sense). Part of the appeal to me is that "dragon" is a word that already carries so much weight, and is often used in titles of rank. Think, perhaps, of how "lion" in English has a sense of bravery and royalty about it - so "Sir Lion" (not to imply that this shi is equivalent to Sir) carries a lot more weight than the Sir by itself would imply. But it's more than that, because, well, Dragon.
(By the way, everything I'm spelling "shi" - I use pinyin by default - should be pronounced with a short i. "Shih" rather than "shee". Xi is pronounced "shee".)
My understanding is that "Oriental" carries pretty unfortunate whiffs of imperialism and cultural weirdness with it, and is generally best not used. (Though some people will argue for its use regarding rugs.) You will run into people discussing whether there really is an "Asian" community, as opposed to a Chinese community, a Vietnamese community, etc - but there does seem to be an emergent pan-Asian identity.
I ask because tides shift so much on these topics. Orient comes from the Latin for East, so it is a very Western shorthand saying. On the other hand, I know of an Anishinaabe who says that if you can't remember their name properly, he'd prefer Indian as opposed to Native American (since everyone born here is a native American.) Apparently he's not alone in that thinking.
Pan-American business groups are springing up. Leave it to the traders to lead the way! The Dragon floats on the edge of all of it, a silent partner in a couple of businesses but not an officer or visible businessman. In fact, his current shapeshifting form is more western looking, since he's been hiding in Texas for a few generations. (One gauge of the ill POV character's magic potential is that she can see his true human form, not his persona.)
So, Longshi (Long-shih) sounds like it would be a very good choice. He is perceived worldwide as a seeker of knowledge, he has ancient Chinese roots, and Dragon suggests high authority or even royalty. Few humans know that he is a dragon -- to those who think they are in the know, he is a long-lived magician. The immortal wizard, since magic alone does not confer immortality.
Bu Long would be BOO-LONG or BU-LONG? So shishi is pronounced shih-shih?
Is coming up with Little Dragon something I should be able to suss out for myself? There's a very large mollusc that calls Reen that, since Quinn is teaching her to control her magic.
I had hoped that you would want to express an opinion when I finally asked about martial arts! ;) Knowing that there are literally hundreds of types (people often stare when I tell them that there are over 200 formal forms of massage therapy) I felt that trying to sift through them was going to be daunting. It made sense that young dragons waiting to achieve their form would learn martial arts (his clan is closest to China) but I have also learned that martial arts are living forms. An acquaintance has created one, which has followers and others who teach it.
So -- the simple answer was to suggest that he now knows many forms, and practices whatever he can find in whatever area he lives in. (Since he can now move himself with magic, he can also pop to San Francisco or wherever and work out in more rarefied disciplines.)
He spent 15 years on the Chinese coast, 100 years in Japan, and then has been free to travel wherever he wanted, as long as he kept his masks in place and avoided other dragons. Eventually he became a mediator for other dragon clans -- having no allegiance, he was perceived as neutral in arguments. So -- he would learn martial arts that are lethal, and gentle. (I like your thought that being able to disarm the drunk kinsman is a good thing to learn.)
What would you suggest likely for him to practice? And can I get DVDs of the form to see it in action, to aid description of what Reen and others think they see happening?
Good heavens this is getting long. I hope it makes sense!
(sorry for the extended delay, and I might write more later - my lab mates arranged for me to be giving a presentation tomorrow, this arrangement taking place while I was out of town, so I've been busy...)
Bulong is Boo-Lohng - "Long" meaning dragon is a long o sound, not one that rhymes with long. And yes, Shishi is Shih Shih.
Little Dragon is xiao long (shyao lohng). One could imagine that he might also call him Long Di (Lohng Dee) - little brother dragon - as an affectionate term. (If that's appropriate to the relationship.)
On styles... There aren't actually that many styles that are documented as going back more than a couple hundred years. (Chen Taijiquan, my primary style, is one.) But then, any martial arts styles have legends nigh unto as elaborate as those of Dragons.
Some that strike me as interesting for this purpose, and some can be found on youtube -
Baguazhang - partly for the kind of movement, partly for the underlying connections with Daoist philosophy.
Wudang Mountain Snake - Okay, mostly because it's just wicked cool. I don't know how historical it is, I've only seen a bit of it. Darn.
Shaolin Dragon - Okay, this is my primary shaolin style. Last time I checked, I didn't much care for what was up on YouTube - it's not particularly close to what I've been taught, but I *had* to mention it...
Oh, I like that -- they arranged for YOU to give the presentation on short notice! They OWE you. ;^) Hope it went well!
So dragon with English phonetics would be pronounced Lung?
Would the mollusc refer to her as Little Brother Dragon if it was a woman? Little dragon is meant affectionately -- Right now, it is the mollusc's courtesy to the Walking Dragon's apprentice. (Which if she survives this magical transition, she might be.) It has other meanings to a mollusc, but it's not explained right away.
You've given me five or six martial arts forms to investigate, plus I suppose there are the ones used in the anime Avatar: The Last Airbender, which are all real forms. So I should be able to cobble together something. He may be using his own discipline by now.
Don't ever worry about not getting back to me right away -- you've given me so much material to work with and research! I really appreciate it. I'm trying hard to work ahead here, to not inconvenience anyone by my questions. If by some chance a weird deadline was involved, I might break down and send you a lj message.
But I'm getting into waters where I have a great depth of knowledge on some subjects I'm using, and little on others. Just my luck a 500 year old Chinese dragon wants to be in the next book. He's going to add a great deal -- he may be critical -- and since he doesn't like to talk about the past much, I don't have to diagram his life. But I want it right when it's mentioned, and he does prefer martial arts sometimes, because magic has a cost that can drain him - he can't replenish like other dragons do.
In Chinese one might say "ma ma hu hu" which means "horse horse tiger tiger" - and generally means "up and down" or "kind of mixed". (By the way - for all that we hear about the ancient Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times"? It doesn't actually seem to exist in Chinese that I've ever seen.) I was really happy with the material I'd done - I'm doing some three dimensional modelling in an system that has a soft body (and hard body, but that's more common) physics simulator. My movies are great. I'd put together a really great background bit leading up into it... which is good, because something went terribly wrong with my computer (it became unable to mount any file systems, including its own hard drive) and I lost my last several slides. And it's possible that one of my models is irrepably munged.
But, despite having had this all happen 15 minutes before the presentation and wanting to throw in the towel, I gave the presentation, talked through the part I didn't have, and played the movies, and everyone ooo'd and aaah'd in a flattering manner.
Way more stressful than I'd have preferred. I mean, it's just a lab meeting, so not a hugely big deal, but I was *so* proud of my work... and after all the time I wasn't getting much thinky work done because I was in so much pain prior to the spine injury, I really wanted to have something go well.
"Long" isn't quite a sound we use. I mean, it's made up of sounds we use, but there isn't a word in English that rhymes with it that I can think of. Lo like lo! how a rose e'er blooming, and then "ng". So Lohng rather than Luhng.
So, um, did I mention that I'm specifically a molluscan neurobiologist? (Okay, I work with Aplysia californica, in particular.) So I'm not quite sure if it's the mollusc or the "little dragon" who is female. I think the latter... Anyhow, a lot of molluscs are hermaphroditic, FWIW. What kind of mollusc? Ours have 1/50th the number of neurons of a cockroach, and aren't particularly bright...
"Little sister dragon" would be Long Mei. (And yes, gender matters, and age different matters - it's all about those Confucian relationships.)
I'm pretty sure one of the Avatar ones is BaGua - I haven't seen much, but a couple of friends blogged about it quite a bit.
Feel free to send me a message - or better yet drop me an email - email's on the top of my LJ. Seriously, this is a hugely welcome break, being so different than my current work. And it's good to use the language skills - I'm thinking of going to live in China for a bit once I'm done here. Ulp. And I don't practice enough! (Well, okay, my martial arts students get a lot of random Chinese terminology. Especially if I've been training with Shifu or Chen Laoshi - the things I've mostly spoken with them about in Chinese I think about in Chinese, which usually isn't a big deal, but sometimes I have to stop and think for a while to figure out how to say it in English.) (And for that matter, in theory I'm going to be doing some translation work with a good friend who's a Seon priest, but who knows when that will actually happen - he's in Paris with his wife right now.) Time to reply will sometimes vary.
I'm glad it was well-received, even though your computer tried to foil your presentation! And sad to hear that you've had a spine injury. Hope the pain is gone and that this does not negatively effect your workouts. (Not if you're teaching students!) Do you still speak Chinese with a neighbor, or have you or they moved?
No! You're a neurobiologist? How excessively neat a career! And in molluscs? You are definitely going in the acknowledgements on this book!
Seriously, I realize that real molluscs are challenging tribbles as the world's most dimwitted creatures. But this is a magical mollusc, of course. From the beginning, Reen thinks she is hallucinating. (She is still dealing with Lyme disease in the first book, and aural and visual hallucinations do occur in third stage conditions.) But she is not - it's a huge oyster in a gigantic restaurant aquarium. It always greets her and the dragon, which she doesn't tell him at first.
But something happens later that indicates that she is not hallucinating, the oyster knows and likes her, and it wishes to honor her by presenting her its pearl as the first piece of her horde. She does not wish to offend even an oyster by explaining that she doesn't have a horde, and agrees to take the pearl. Turns out it's a huge, flawless natural pearl, and even the dragon is impressed. Very auspicious, to start a horde with a gift of that caliber.
I imagine they would ask if it wanted something to use to start a new pearl, or something. They could go on a parasite hunt, or offer a fragment of nacre?
I've been thinking of it as a black-lipped oyster, because I adore black pearls and the dragon's irises are black with hints of iridescent color, like black pearls. But I am not wedded to it.
This is just one of those fun throw-aways that became more than a slight exchange with a hallucination. An oyster old enough to speak to wizards!
I'm pretty happy with the outcome of the surgery, so far. The original injury had been around for a while, and had been pretty stable for a few years... until a large van drove into me (while I was at a dead stop with my foot on the brake, waiting for someone to back out of a parking space). And the disk exploded. Attempts to treat it more conservatively failed, so sixteen months later (which is ridiculously long, and that's another story) I had surgery... and by that evening, in the hospital, I was on less drugs and in less pain than I had been, and doing slow gentle forms in the lounge, still hooked up to my IV - forms always make me feel better, plus if I can do forms, I have a lot more faith that I'm going to be okay. (They had me on kind of a long tether.) (And I have a kind of ridiculous pain tolerance. I mean, I did even before this episode. I'm really trying to get it down, because, say, walking around with a broken metatarsal for three weeks before getting around to doing anything about it isn't a good plan. (That was a couple of months before the surgery.) I felt like teaching again after a week, but apparently the internets judged otherwise - something happened to the email I sent out, so it was a couple weeks before I did. All in all I have to call it the best throat cutting ever - I'm not back to 100%, but I really can't complain.
As I said, I mostly work in slugs, but you pick things up, y'know? (I'm in it for the motor systems and biomechanics, mostly, but I'm interested in everything.) I must say, if there's one thing dumber than a slug it's a bivalve. And do not mistake this for a lack of fondness for my dear slugs. But, well, magic. And the pearl is kind of irresistable.
You're sure it couldn't be a magic cephalopod? Ooo - a barren female cephalopod (okay, I'm thinking of the rather dreadful mate and die octopus reproductive system) who therefore could grow old enough to grow into wisdom and magic... (Yeah, yeah, I have a soft spot for cephalopods. They're so cool! And smart! Oh, hey, have you read Eric Flint's Mother of Demons? But real ones are even cooler.)
Hm. There are a number of traditions around dragons and pearls... (Sadly, I know the iconography better than I know the traditions.)
A fragment of nacre would seem appropriate. How serious of aquarists are the keepers of the restaurant? There are a number of things that can be more or less overtly out of balance. (I did a lot of working with tank chemistry while I was having spine problems, and my tank now boasts a refugium and a cleaning crew of snails.) I'd like to think parasites would not be much of a problem in that environment...
That's why they'd have to go on a parasite hunt -- because the owners of the restaurant have a son who takes the tank VERY seriously, especially after he finds out that the little dragon can communicate with the big old oyster. No natural parasites there to be entombed by nacre!
The pearl was irresistible.
Cephalopods are seriously cool; I have several friends who love them. I have my baby squid pic from that ancient female in the NW who finally bred and fought to stay with her eggs when they were cleaning her tank. Would not surprise me if a ceph does enter the story at some point. Ancient font of wisdom that she is (her sisters have gone ahead, but she watches over their descendents, amassing great knowledge.) I still love the story about the ceph at the Maryland(?) Aquarium that was stealing valuable specimens and eating them, then crawling back into his tank and shutting the lid! I still think he might be Cthulhu.
I like slugs. My Ex was going to go after the slugs living near our water main (dripping) to feed them to his box turtles, but he was so charmed by the little guys that he left them alone. Stuck to meal worms. Haven't gotten to see a banana slug in person yet, but would be fascinated.
Sounds like you are doing very well. As someone still fighting for an even keel, I appreciate what all that hard work is doing for you.
I remember the tongue-twister in Bridge of Birds that was referred to. The more I know about Chinese and Japanese, the more impressed I am by people who learn it as adults.
I like your idea of multiple levels of learning for a time master -- that makes perfect sense for the culture. Laoshi -- is that three syllables? These are Chinese words, yes? That is your specialty, isn't it?
The convergence of Taoist and Buddhist beliefs with magic makes complete sense. I figured that my dragon would have started studying martial arts even as a dragon -- and continued, changing forms, exploring new ones. Part of what he is currently using is Aikido, which of course is very young, because it's one he can use without killing people.
I'm guessing that a man who has used martial arts to stay alive might use every trick in his arsenal to avoid killing people in 21st century America. Attracts too much attention, and also, he learned enough of the Tao and Buddhist tradition that he doesn't like to kill.
But I was going to ask people for suggested forms of martial arts for him to learn later on. The main POV character does not know individual martial arts, and it all looks magical to her! In the second or third book, I might get brave enough to try some small sections from his POV.
"Bu Long" also might suggest that he's learning to be a dragon, which in a weird sense is true. He's going to have the unnerving experience of being a full-fledged magic user while learning how to fly. Not amusing.
Lord Dragon is not something he would use to refer to himself -- although he is a son of his clan's matriarch, and his father's only son, making him a lord of his people. People who are afraid of him and trying to be respectful would call him this. But not necessarily the Asian community? The English and Hispanic populations. (Is Asian community preferable to Oriental community?) Among dragons, "lord" suggests very ancient lines, more dragon blood than human blood mixed in, a very powerful magic user (the greatest can call and control multiple force hurricanes) and a principal heir of his father's horde, should something happen to Dear Old Dad.
Asians in the know perceive him as a very powerful and scholarly magic user. Most do not know that he IS a dragon lord. So yes, humans would use a word that reflects scholar (he deals on the side in magic books, always looking for new ones) or magician.
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Laoshi is two syllables (in Chinese, all characters are one syllable) and yeah, Chinese. It's my strongest language, anyway - I'm off doing a doctorate in neurobiology, so it mostly gets used in the martial arts and chan parts of my life, though I sometimes talk to academic students as well.
"Part of what he is currently using is Aikido, which of course is very young, because it's one he can use without killing people."
Mm. So Aikido is hardly the only art that teaches non lethal and defensive techniques. There are some that are pretty heavily weighted towards lethality, but many more that aren't - Aikido may not teach offensive techniques, but other than that it's not nearly as unique as it sometimes bills itself. (Which is not to say that it's can't be a damn fine art.) The Shaolin Gongfu I study amuses me in part because it has a lot of different levels of harm - and one of the versions of "mild" is explicitly for people you want to be able to interact with socially later on. Y'know, when Uncle Harry has had a few too many on Thanksgiving... (Chen Taijiquan - my primary art - has a terribly peaceful reputation, though there's a lot of room for lethality under that hood.) If he's trained in other martial arts, while he might find good people and interesting philosophy in Aikido, I doubt he'd find new material as such.
" "Bu Long" also might suggest that he's learning to be a dragon, which in a weird sense is true. He's going to have the unnerving experience of being a full-fledged magic user while learning how to fly. Not amusing."
It's not going to be a direct meaning, but I could see him thinking that to himself.
My understanding is that "Oriental" carries pretty unfortunate whiffs of imperialism and cultural weirdness with it, and is generally best not used. (Though some people will argue for its use regarding rugs.) You will run into people discussing whether there really is an "Asian" community, as opposed to a Chinese community, a Vietnamese community, etc - but there does seem to be an emergent pan-Asian identity.
As to things he might be called... I'd be tempted to say 龙士 (longshi). (Bah - I do like the fantizi character for dragon a lot better.) Shi is rather understated, but an absolutely ancient word - it means scholar (though it can also mean gentleman, or even warrior - kind of in that "officer and a gentleman" sort of sense). Part of the appeal to me is that "dragon" is a word that already carries so much weight, and is often used in titles of rank. Think, perhaps, of how "lion" in English has a sense of bravery and royalty about it - so "Sir Lion" (not to imply that this shi is equivalent to Sir) carries a lot more weight than the Sir by itself would imply. But it's more than that, because, well, Dragon.
(By the way, everything I'm spelling "shi" - I use pinyin by default - should be pronounced with a short i. "Shih" rather than "shee". Xi is pronounced "shee".)
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I ask because tides shift so much on these topics. Orient comes from the Latin for East, so it is a very Western shorthand saying. On the other hand, I know of an Anishinaabe who says that if you can't remember their name properly, he'd prefer Indian as opposed to Native American (since everyone born here is a native American.) Apparently he's not alone in that thinking.
Pan-American business groups are springing up. Leave it to the traders to lead the way! The Dragon floats on the edge of all of it, a silent partner in a couple of businesses but not an officer or visible businessman. In fact, his current shapeshifting form is more western looking, since he's been hiding in Texas for a few generations. (One gauge of the ill POV character's magic potential is that she can see his true human form, not his persona.)
So, Longshi (Long-shih) sounds like it would be a very good choice. He is perceived worldwide as a seeker of knowledge, he has ancient Chinese roots, and Dragon suggests high authority or even royalty. Few humans know that he is a dragon -- to those who think they are in the know, he is a long-lived magician. The immortal wizard, since magic alone does not confer immortality.
Bu Long would be BOO-LONG or BU-LONG? So shishi is pronounced shih-shih?
Is coming up with Little Dragon something I should be able to suss out for myself? There's a very large mollusc that calls Reen that, since Quinn is teaching her to control her magic.
I had hoped that you would want to express an opinion when I finally asked about martial arts! ;) Knowing that there are literally hundreds of types (people often stare when I tell them that there are over 200 formal forms of massage therapy) I felt that trying to sift through them was going to be daunting. It made sense that young dragons waiting to achieve their form would learn martial arts (his clan is closest to China) but I have also learned that martial arts are living forms. An acquaintance has created one, which has followers and others who teach it.
So -- the simple answer was to suggest that he now knows many forms, and practices whatever he can find in whatever area he lives in. (Since he can now move himself with magic, he can also pop to San Francisco or wherever and work out in more rarefied disciplines.)
He spent 15 years on the Chinese coast, 100 years in Japan, and then has been free to travel wherever he wanted, as long as he kept his masks in place and avoided other dragons. Eventually he became a mediator for other dragon clans -- having no allegiance, he was perceived as neutral in arguments. So -- he would learn martial arts that are lethal, and gentle. (I like your thought that being able to disarm the drunk kinsman is a good thing to learn.)
What would you suggest likely for him to practice? And can I get DVDs of the form to see it in action, to aid description of what Reen and others think they see happening?
Good heavens this is getting long. I hope it makes sense!
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Bulong is Boo-Lohng - "Long" meaning dragon is a long o sound, not one that rhymes with long. And yes, Shishi is Shih Shih.
Little Dragon is xiao long (shyao lohng). One could imagine that he might also call him Long Di (Lohng Dee) - little brother dragon - as an affectionate term. (If that's appropriate to the relationship.)
On styles... There aren't actually that many styles that are documented as going back more than a couple hundred years. (Chen Taijiquan, my primary style, is one.) But then, any martial arts styles have legends nigh unto as elaborate as those of Dragons.
Some that strike me as interesting for this purpose, and some can be found on youtube -
Baguazhang - partly for the kind of movement, partly for the underlying connections with Daoist philosophy.
Wudang Mountain Snake - Okay, mostly because it's just wicked cool. I don't know how historical it is, I've only seen a bit of it. Darn.
Shaolin Dragon - Okay, this is my primary shaolin style. Last time I checked, I didn't much care for what was up on YouTube - it's not particularly close to what I've been taught, but I *had* to mention it...
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So dragon with English phonetics would be pronounced Lung?
Would the mollusc refer to her as Little Brother Dragon if it was a woman? Little dragon is meant affectionately -- Right now, it is the mollusc's courtesy to the Walking Dragon's apprentice. (Which if she survives this magical transition, she might be.) It has other meanings to a mollusc, but it's not explained right away.
You've given me five or six martial arts forms to investigate, plus I suppose there are the ones used in the anime Avatar: The Last Airbender, which are all real forms. So I should be able to cobble together something. He may be using his own discipline by now.
Don't ever worry about not getting back to me right away -- you've given me so much material to work with and research! I really appreciate it. I'm trying hard to work ahead here, to not inconvenience anyone by my questions. If by some chance a weird deadline was involved, I might break down and send you a lj message.
But I'm getting into waters where I have a great depth of knowledge on some subjects I'm using, and little on others. Just my luck a 500 year old Chinese dragon wants to be in the next book. He's going to add a great deal -- he may be critical -- and since he doesn't like to talk about the past much, I don't have to diagram his life. But I want it right when it's mentioned, and he does prefer martial arts sometimes, because magic has a cost that can drain him - he can't replenish like other dragons do.
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But, despite having had this all happen 15 minutes before the presentation and wanting to throw in the towel, I gave the presentation, talked through the part I didn't have, and played the movies, and everyone ooo'd and aaah'd in a flattering manner.
Way more stressful than I'd have preferred. I mean, it's just a lab meeting, so not a hugely big deal, but I was *so* proud of my work... and after all the time I wasn't getting much thinky work done because I was in so much pain prior to the spine injury, I really wanted to have something go well.
"Long" isn't quite a sound we use. I mean, it's made up of sounds we use, but there isn't a word in English that rhymes with it that I can think of. Lo like lo! how a rose e'er blooming, and then "ng". So Lohng rather than Luhng.
So, um, did I mention that I'm specifically a molluscan neurobiologist? (Okay, I work with Aplysia californica, in particular.) So I'm not quite sure if it's the mollusc or the "little dragon" who is female. I think the latter... Anyhow, a lot of molluscs are hermaphroditic, FWIW. What kind of mollusc? Ours have 1/50th the number of neurons of a cockroach, and aren't particularly bright...
"Little sister dragon" would be Long Mei. (And yes, gender matters, and age different matters - it's all about those Confucian relationships.)
I'm pretty sure one of the Avatar ones is BaGua - I haven't seen much, but a couple of friends blogged about it quite a bit.
Feel free to send me a message - or better yet drop me an email - email's on the top of my LJ. Seriously, this is a hugely welcome break, being so different than my current work. And it's good to use the language skills - I'm thinking of going to live in China for a bit once I'm done here. Ulp. And I don't practice enough! (Well, okay, my martial arts students get a lot of random Chinese terminology. Especially if I've been training with Shifu or Chen Laoshi - the things I've mostly spoken with them about in Chinese I think about in Chinese, which usually isn't a big deal, but sometimes I have to stop and think for a while to figure out how to say it in English.) (And for that matter, in theory I'm going to be doing some translation work with a good friend who's a Seon priest, but who knows when that will actually happen - he's in Paris with his wife right now.) Time to reply will sometimes vary.
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No! You're a neurobiologist? How excessively neat a career! And in molluscs? You are definitely going in the acknowledgements on this book!
Seriously, I realize that real molluscs are challenging tribbles as the world's most dimwitted creatures. But this is a magical mollusc, of course. From the beginning, Reen thinks she is hallucinating. (She is still dealing with Lyme disease in the first book, and aural and visual hallucinations do occur in third stage conditions.) But she is not - it's a huge oyster in a gigantic restaurant aquarium. It always greets her and the dragon, which she doesn't tell him at first.
But something happens later that indicates that she is not hallucinating, the oyster knows and likes her, and it wishes to honor her by presenting her its pearl as the first piece of her horde. She does not wish to offend even an oyster by explaining that she doesn't have a horde, and agrees to take the pearl. Turns out it's a huge, flawless natural pearl, and even the dragon is impressed. Very auspicious, to start a horde with a gift of that caliber.
I imagine they would ask if it wanted something to use to start a new pearl, or something. They could go on a parasite hunt, or offer a fragment of nacre?
I've been thinking of it as a black-lipped oyster, because I adore black pearls and the dragon's irises are black with hints of iridescent color, like black pearls. But I am not wedded to it.
This is just one of those fun throw-aways that became more than a slight exchange with a hallucination. An oyster old enough to speak to wizards!
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As I said, I mostly work in slugs, but you pick things up, y'know? (I'm in it for the motor systems and biomechanics, mostly, but I'm interested in everything.) I must say, if there's one thing dumber than a slug it's a bivalve. And do not mistake this for a lack of fondness for my dear slugs. But, well, magic. And the pearl is kind of irresistable.
You're sure it couldn't be a magic cephalopod? Ooo - a barren female cephalopod (okay, I'm thinking of the rather dreadful mate and die octopus reproductive system) who therefore could grow old enough to grow into wisdom and magic... (Yeah, yeah, I have a soft spot for cephalopods. They're so cool! And smart! Oh, hey, have you read Eric Flint's Mother of Demons? But real ones are even cooler.)
Hm. There are a number of traditions around dragons and pearls... (Sadly, I know the iconography better than I know the traditions.)
A fragment of nacre would seem appropriate. How serious of aquarists are the keepers of the restaurant? There are a number of things that can be more or less overtly out of balance. (I did a lot of working with tank chemistry while I was having spine problems, and my tank now boasts a refugium and a cleaning crew of snails.) I'd like to think parasites would not be much of a problem in that environment...
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The pearl was irresistible.
Cephalopods are seriously cool; I have several friends who love them. I have my baby squid pic from that ancient female in the NW who finally bred and fought to stay with her eggs when they were cleaning her tank. Would not surprise me if a ceph does enter the story at some point. Ancient font of wisdom that she is (her sisters have gone ahead, but she watches over their descendents, amassing great knowledge.) I still love the story about the ceph at the Maryland(?) Aquarium that was stealing valuable specimens and eating them, then crawling back into his tank and shutting the lid! I still think he might be Cthulhu.
I like slugs. My Ex was going to go after the slugs living near our water main (dripping) to feed them to his box turtles, but he was so charmed by the little guys that he left them alone. Stuck to meal worms. Haven't gotten to see a banana slug in person yet, but would be fascinated.
Sounds like you are doing very well. As someone still fighting for an even keel, I appreciate what all that hard work is doing for you.
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