Brace yourself for that first link

[clevermanka]

Twitter:
I cannot sufficiently articulate how absolutely unprepared I was for A-line shirt wearing long hair Bai Yu.
Toot toot!
Fanart: Pop-art style. Kisses! Chibi kisses! Caught kissing on the lawn! Shen Wei past and present.
King of the slow blink.

The art of acting like a spoiled child. (this is actually a brilliant cultural technique and short but educational)

More heartbreaking thoughts on Dr. Li Wenliang, who defied authorities to let people know about the coronavirus. People continuing to try to help their fellows makes me feel better about humanity.

According to the Guardian prologue, the planet where the story takes place is called Seastar (in the subtitles I remember, anyway), and I understood that term to be separate from Haixing which is (as I interpreted it) the word for the China-nation equivalent. Is this an accepted standard? McKitterick thought Haixing was the name of the planet which, once he said it, doesn't seem an unreasonable assumption. Where does fandom stand on this? It's kind of important for how I phrase things in Deconstruction.

Comments

[yantantether]

Haixing just means Seastar - it's the same word but was translated / not translated inconsistently in the subs.

[naye]

Yeah this - though xing can mean any heavenly body (so "Sea Planet" would also be a valid translation). Dixing, meanwhile, means "ground star", with the same xing. The production clearly needed to censor the allusion to 'hell' in the original name for Dixing in a hurry, and someone ran out of imagination. (I'm curious what name they originally used for Haixing, which is also very dubbed on. Maybe just Earth?)

[clevermanka]

This is making my life more difficult and I am highly annoyed at all the decisions that led it being the case.

[naye]

The fact that I've never figured out what the difference between the world/nation is... Yeeeahhhhhh. I usually gloss over it? You could make a case for a world called Haixing full of nation-states, except for how you have the Haixing Ministry. And you could make a case for Haixing being a country in a world also called Haixing because of ~reasons~. You can also make a case for Haixing being the only nation in the world and so everything is Haixing. But that's not helpful at all, is it?

[clevermanka]

So when I started Ghost Story, I was all "woo! figuring out the ghost sex is gonna be so fun" and then I realized It Was Actually Not All That Fun in fact It Was Kind Of Exhausting and now I'm looking at my "woo! figuring out how to write a Canadian Shack fic for Guardian's gonna be so fun" and I realize I'm a complete fucking idiot and waaaaaay more of an unconscious masochist than I ever dreamed.

I've always said my tombstone will read "It Seemed Like Such A Good Idea At The Time."

[umadoshi]

(so "Sea Planet" would also be a valid translation)

I need to share that my brain just helpfully jumped in with "Seaworld!" *facepalm*

[clevermanka]

Hmmmmmmm *taps lips thoughtfully*

Probably gonna have a follow-up question on the topic tomorrow unless I get a flash of inspiration tonight.

[trobadora]

I cannot sufficiently articulate how absolutely unprepared I was for A-line shirt wearing long hair Bai Yu.

Ohhhhh. :D

Haixing is the name of the planet, and literally translates to "sea star".

[clevermanka]

Yes, let us focus on those images of Bai Yu to sufficiently distract from how annoyed I am at how to work around this because I do not want to figure out what to name the country they're from.

[trobadora]

Considering the supervisory department/ministry/inspectorate/whatever the subtitles call it is called 海星鉴 Hǎixīng jiàn, they may well have a planetary government?

Not to distract you from Bai Yu's delightful pics, of course. *g*

[clevermanka]

they may well have a planetary government?
ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[trobadora]

*pets you*

[rlyqueer]

This is such a frustrating worldbuilding question, but it can also be kinda nice because it isn't explicit in canon so... We can do what we want? I'm of the opinion that Haixing is either:

1) One country of many that aren't mentioned/explored — basically this world's version of fantasy!China. We at least know for certain that Dragon City isn't the only civilization beyond its surrounding countryside/rural areas (through which the gang travels to get to old Hanga territory, and in which YOHE takes place, and where the Snake Tribe lives). We know of Cold City, Phoenix City, etc. Can't remember what other cities got referenced by their clocks hanging in the SID. In this headcanon, one could even write Haixing as an isolationist country, which could explain all lack of mention or reference to other countries. (If Haixing is an island, one could also say that in YOHE, no one had discovered them or vice versa, if that makes your job easier.)

2) One country but the only country, like Naye mentioned. If you're using the whole drama canon without rewrites to its worldbuilding (aliens, fantasy planet, etc.), it's easy to manipulate the whole "this is a different planet than Earth" narrative to suit your needs. In this case, Haixing could be the only hospitable part of the planet. Maybe it's a single large continent+country and the rest is just water. Pangea-style. Or maybe Haixing is the only explored part of the planet, and no one knows what else is out there (taking a page from HunterxHunter).

[clevermanka]

One country of many that aren't mentioned/explored
But then why would they have the Haixing Inspectorate, etc.? I would love to make option one work but honestly I don't see how, considering the information everyone offered, above.

I'm gonna bring up in a separate post tomorrow as to why the second option doesn't work for the particular fic I'm writing.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is way more upsetting than it should be right now.

[trobadora]

Butting in here (sorry): it could also be a federation or confederation of different countries while still having a world government?

They also have bilingual signing everywhere in Dragon City, so they have at least two unrelated languages, and their speakers must come from somewhere.

[clevermanka]

Okay okay okay this is very reassuring, thank you. I can work with the idea of a federation and good point about the bilingual signage, omg that might save me. I'd only have about half of 22k words to re-work if I can massage that to fit the fic.

[trobadora]

Writing is hard sometimes! *hugs*

[clevermanka]

THIS IS A TERRIBLE HOBBY WHY DID I START THIS?

[trobadora]

A question I ask myself way too often, LOL.

[teaotter]

One possibility: Haixing (the country) calls the planet Haixing and the native people Haixingren, but people in other countries don't. Maybe the country's government views itself as stewards of the planet because they have the main portal to Dixing and the Treaty?

[clevermanka]

Haixing (the country) calls the planet Haixing and the native people Haixingren, but people in other countries don't.
"Yes we are calling our country after the name of the planet for Secret Reasons We Aren't Disclosing But Definitely Have Nothing To Do With Aliens."

*laugh-cry emoji*

[teaotter]

My brain is on vacation without me this weekend, so this may not make any sense. If so, sorry!

But I was thinking the other way around: 'Here in Haixing, we call the planet Haixing, and we don't care if you stupid foreigners call it Earth.'

Thinking about this more, I think it's also possible that Haixing is what the Dixingren call the planet. Like, they walked through the portal and asked the humans they met where they were, and the humans said 'oh, this is Haixing!' And the Dixingren assumed it was the name of the planet, not just the country.

But it sure sounds like Haixing and Dixing are names in the same language, at any rate.

[clevermanka]

Here in Haixing, we call the planet Haixing, and we don't care if you stupid foreigners call it Earth
Can you imagine tho? "We're calling this planet AMERICA and fuck all y'all!" I mean, it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility (looks around at the nationalism running rampant all over the place in reality). Not saying mistakes aren't made, but the government on the show doesn't seem that...bad?

OH SHOW WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

[rlyqueer]

But then why would they have the Haixing Inspectorate, etc.?
The way I see it, Haixing doesn't have to be referring to the planet. I can easily see it as the name of the country itself, especially if it's an island nation. They could've easily named themselves "Sea Star" before an age of exploration and assumed they were the only civilization at one point. It isn't like they'd change a name they'd had for thousands of years after discovering other societies beyond their own.

Their government — with the Inspectorate, Ministry, etc. — could really be what you want it to be. Because it isn't explicit in canon. Literal translations don't always correlate with intent/what a word/phrase means in practice, if that's what's tripping you up. Granted, this is coming from my western perspective and I don't speak the language, so that's something to run by someone who does. Something could have a grander name than what it actually is, though.

[trobadora]

The way I see it, Haixing doesn't have to be referring to the planet.

The opening narration literally starts with "Haixing - an ancient planet", though.

[rlyqueer]

Lmao you're right, I forgot about that line. There are ways to circumvent it, though, like with an unreliable narrator trope. Which could go in a bunch of different directions.

Haixingren propaganda — which could fit with an isolationist policy? Or Haixingren just not differentiating the names of their country and planet, but others do?

Very slight mental gymnastics, but not too much of a stretch for either, I think.

[trobadora]

But also not really necessary? The country Dragon City is in could easily be called something else, and it and its regional government institutions just might never come up in the show because Dixing-Haixing relations are strictly the purview of a higher-level world government. That's what I'd personally go with, anyway.

[rlyqueer]

That's a good point! Very easy to see things that way.

[clevermanka]

The country Dragon City is in could easily be called something else, and it and its regional government institutions just might never come up in the show because Dixing-Haixing relations are strictly the purview of a higher-level world government.
So the SID would be some sort of U.N.-level mystery group?

[trobadora]

Yeah, that would make sense to me. Sort of a taskforce of a U.N.-equivalent agency?

[clevermanka]

Which makes Guo Changcheng's assignment there even worse/better. Good lord, no wonder his uncle was not best pleased.

[clevermanka]

Unfortunately, I don't think I can work around the fact that we have the planet called "Haixing" (a fact I CONVENIENTLY MISSED THE THREE TIMES I'VE WATCHED THIS SHOW) as well as all the government institutions called "Haixing This" or "Haixing That."

I think I'm gonna go with the federated consortium of nations all called Haixing. I'm not thrilled about it (at all), but trobadora's reminder that we at least see a different language in signage, etc., was helpful.

[rlyqueer]

That's fair, and yeah I also completely forgot the multiple languages on signage!

I think a federation of nations called Haixing does make sense, as alarming an implication that is considering the Ministry's terrible ineptitude lol. But then again... glances at real-world politicians and institutions I certainly don't have to suspend my disbelief.

[clevermanka]

glances at real-world politicians and institutions I certainly don't have to suspend my disbelief.
Yeah, I'm kinda cry-laughing at the implications of that, myself right now.

[umadoshi]

Those pics of Bai Yu broke me a little this morning.

And reading through the discussion about Haixing just now was fascinating, although I'm sorry it's all being such a pain in the ass for you and your fic. *hugs*

[clevermanka]

GOOD MORNING! XD

omg it's such a pain in the ass!

[winter_blossom]

I see I'm unfortunately too late to the Haixing/Earth discussion... Love the responses that are already on here, though! (Would like to cast my vote for the "Haixing is the name of the planet, Dragon City is capital of that planet's version of China, Haixing inspectorate is a higher (UN-like) authority because it deals with Dixing" theory.)

The art of acting like a spoiled child.

Thank you for sharing that link! Now finally I have an explanation for why Chinese protagonists (as opposed to Japanese ones) strike me as being far more casually manipulative towards their love interest.

All the fanart today is super cute!

[clevermanka]

"Casually manipulative," yes! Good phrase.

Haixing is the name of the planet, Dragon City is capital of that planet's version of China, Haixing inspectorate is a higher (UN-like) authority because it deals with Dixing
This is 99.999% likely what I'm gonna roll with.

[xparrot]

FWIW I've had the thought that Haixing is the name of the planet and that Dragon City is a city-state deal, like Singapore; it's not part of any larger nation. And it has a Haixing Inspectorate because it's the only sovereign nation on Haixing that deals with or really knows about Dixing. So that one bureau in Dragon City basically serves as the planet Haixing's representation. It's like if Area 51 had a "department of Earth affairs" - it's not that the US would be all of Earth, but that the department were the only people on Earth who knew that there was something else in contrast.

[clevermanka]

Do you think that fits with the "Haixing is the name of the planet, Dragon City is capital of that planet's version of China, Haixing inspectorate is a higher (UN-like) authority because it deals with Dixing" that winter_blossom articulated so well, above?

[xparrot]

I think you could go with that, with what we're given!

It's not how I see it myself because I don't see any indication that Dragon City is capital of anything and they never mention being part of a larger nation. In my headcanon there isn't a higher authority dealing with Dixing because the majority of the world doesn't know about Dixing, it's only a handful of people in Dragon City, and the Haixing Inspectorate is a grandiose name given to what's actually a small local office of maybe a couple of dozen people at most? (Then, I also think Dixing is very small, only a few thousand people at most, rather than a whole world in its own right...)

But a lot of this is influenced by the show's extremely minimal budget and limited cast, so there is definitely room to imagine it on a much larger scale!

ETA: upon consideration, the Haixing Inspectorate being an international authority would make more sense to me if Dragon City were independent... It's not the capital of a China-equivalent, it's an independent nation, and that's why it's host to the Haixing UN. Like Washington DC isn't in any state. The nations around Dragon City have never tried to annex it, like it's Switzerland, which is a weird historical artifact that no one really understands, because no one knows that Dragon City actually is home to a bunch of people with super powers...!

[clevermanka]

Great minds think alike, bc your ETA is pretty much exactly what I'm going with. *highfive!*

[xparrot]

\o/ It does make sense (or at least as much sense as we can wrench from canon!)

[moodsong]

Honestly, I'd like to be able to pull off the spoiled child look but I just look like a demented puppy.

[clevermanka]

Hey, some people are probably into that!