shinkutsuuki

[shinkutsuuki]

just got a second official warning for my use of "from the river to the sea, palestine will be free" on the OTW volunteer slack

people are also currently asking board to ban saying that the founding of israel was colonialism—equating this to saying racial slurs—and were complaining about my status back when it was "palestine will be free", too

suffice to say, fuck that place, don't give the OTW your money, and don't fucking volunteer there

(the second screenshot is from the warning I got a few days ago)

[shinkutsuuki]

My favourite thing about fan fiction is the experience of watching/reading something and being like ‘huh - I can see a potential pairing there, those two characters could be interesting together’. And then you casually look up the pairing on AO3 and someone has written the most beautiful, heart-wrenching love story you’ve ever read, with character analysis that makes you want to scream, and they’ve teased out the threads of the relationship dynamic in such an interesting way that makes so much SENSE, but you never would have thought it would be so fucking ELECTRIC. And then you recover enough from that fic to read another one, and it’s JUST AS FUCKING GOOD, and before you know it, it’s 3am and your eyes are burning and you’re squinting at the 100th scene of them confessing their love for each other and it’s still not enough. You know what I’m saying???

[shinkutsuuki]

Me and mom learned new English word.

[shinkutsuuki]

Unsure if you are aware of this update, but apparently someone got into the Twit api and believes that the "rate limiting" is actually a cover up by Elon bc they accidenlty pushed an update DDOSing their own site, which is why he says its "temporary" in his tweet. Not sure if Elon is actually trying to cover-up, or if the DDOS is an unintended side effect of the change

(With reference to this post here.)

As far as I can tell, the folks advancing that theory have it perfectly backwards. The rate limit isn't an effort to address the self-DDoS situation: the rate limit is causing the self-DDoS situation.

In a nutshell, when you load up Twitter in your browser, two things are happening:

In response to your initial request, Twitter's server sends your browser the information it needs to construct the website's user interface (UI).

Once the UI has been constructed within your browser, it instructs your browser to dispatch a separate request, via the Twitter API, requesting content (i.e., tweets and ads) to fill itself with.

(It's actually a little more complex than that, because the response to the initial request may come pre-filled with a portion of the required content in order to speed things up the first time you visit your dashboard, but that's the gist of it, anyway.)

So, what happens now that the rate limit is in place?

Well, the rate limit doesn't affect the first request – it's not using the API, so your browser is able to construct the Twitter UI just fine. The moment you try to scroll your Twitter dashboard, however, that triggers the Twitter UI that's been constructed within your browser to ask the Twitter API for more content so you can keep scrolling – and that request is subject to the rate limit.

If you happen already to have exceeded your rate limit, that request is going to receive a response along the lines of "Error 429 – Rate Limit Exceeded". Here's the trick: while Twitter did update the UI to reflect the addition of a rate limit (i.e., they're not complete idiots), it turns out they did an incomplete job, and certain dashboard widgets don't know what to do with an error 429.

Now, the fun part: apparently, what the affected Twitter dashboard widgets are coded to do when they receive a response they don't recognise is simply to ignore it and try again. Further, nobody thought to impose a delay between attempts, so they retry immediately upon receiving the unrecognised error 429. For users with snappy Internet service, this can result in their browser making multiple attempts per second to retrieve content for the affected Twitter dashboard widgets, receiving (and ignoring) the same error code each time.

And that's how Twitter ended up accidentally ordering its own users to DDoS its API.

[shinkutsuuki]

nobody asked and nobody cares but my favorite eugene panels are those where he's dressed down? like in a tracksuit and a cute pair of nike dunks. it's giving kouji's hacker bestie vibes who will track down your IP for talking shit ✨

it's more compelling to me than the twink chairman character design... cus it gives lowkey loser who's actually a big villain vibes ?? whatever i brainrot thanks for coming to my talk

[shinkutsuuki]

Romantic things that make my insides curl up

A reading to B as B falls asleep on their shoulder

Forehead touching. (this literally drives me insane!!!)

Confessing while drunk (idk what it is in books and fanfics but I love it sm)

A absent mindedly holding B's hand and intertwining their fingers tigether

Dancing in the rain

ANYTHING ROMANTIC IN THE RAIN

Dancing anywhere is just so 😻💞

A's friends having to full on explain that A is 100% in love with B

B holding onto A's hand as they squeeze through a crowd

Confessions with flowers 🤭

Holding the umbrella together

Accidental hand touching (ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY HAVEN'T GOT TOGETHER YET)

"Your hands are cold. Let me warm them up."

Secret meetings!!!

[shinkutsuuki]

Hi! I LOVE YOUR HCs (specifically the one about them tiddies) could I request for a HC about walking in on jake, Samuel, goo, and gun naked by accident? Thanks!!!!!

Thank you so much! <3

Walking in on Jake, Samuel, Goo and Gun naked by accident headcanons.

Jake

The vending machine dropped an extra snack so you ran to give the free chocolate bar to Jake. What you didn't expect was to find a better snack.

"JAKE LOOK WHAT I'Ve obtain- "

So you ran into Jake changing his clothes since the other ones were stained with sweat and enemies blood.

You both looked at each other shocked, and remained still some seconds.

Your eyes slowly started to inspect Jake's body, surprising you at how much he bulked up.

Jake found out that you were inspecting his body, he covered his chest with his hands and looked surprised at you.

"I didn't know you were a perv"

His words took you out of your trance, your face burned red, you threw the chocolate bar at him and left out of there as fast as you could.

Samuel

You've been Samuel's assistant for a while, it actually is a good job, Yujin recently called you about giving Samuel some important papers that needed to be sended back immediately.

You rushed to his bedroom, where he had his second office, just to find him wearing only his underwear, while he was choosing what clothes to wear.

He looked at you, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you need something?"

"Yes, sorry, Yujin told me to deliver those tiddi- papers"

As you got nervous you felt how he was confident, he pointed his desk with his eyes and went back to choose his clothes, you slowly leaved the papers there.

"You know you should learn to knock doors, maybe I'll have to teach you"

As this words left his mouth you got even more nervous, you decided to run out of his bedroom, you rushed so fast that you didn't even check the door, bumping into the wood and falling on the floor.

Samuel holded his laugh as he helped you get up, he made you sit on his bed as he dressed, gave you some ice and signed the papers.

Goo

You went to your best friends house to watch some anime together, since Goo trusted you he gave you his house keys.

"Goo~ today is Saturday of Tokyo Revengers ~"

You didn't find any hint of his whereabouts, until you felt someone behind you, as you turned around you found him with a towel around his waist.

"You always appear on the most inopportune moments "

As Goo scared you, you instinctively hitted his intimate parts.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING "

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE A BURGLAR OR A SEXUAL MANIAC "

"AT MY OWN HOUSE!?"

As you helped him get up he slipped falling on the floor, he fell over you.

"Don't look down if you still want to maintain our friendship "

"You can't tell someone to not look down and expect them to not look down, you dumbass"

Gun

Charles send you to go find Gun, as you went to his office you found a raste of other men, beated up on the floor, some jerks who tried to fight him.

You saw him sitting on a sofa as you entered more you found out he was naked.

"Yo Gun- Oh god you're naked"

You covered your eyes with your hands and when you retreated you bumped into everything, sofa, tables, guys who just were ko on the floor...

"If you keep covering your eyes you will bump into more things"

"But why are you naked!?"

"It's more comfortable to fight"

As you reached the door you pointed to the lock.

"See this? Use it"

You lifted your middle finger and left, leaving a smiling naked Gun.

[shinkutsuuki]

Joyful Reunion

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr/ko-fi1 Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Masterpost | Characters, Maps & Other Reference Index

Watchtowers of the Seven Stars

4. Dawn’s Fiery Halo Startles the Long Night

I want to fight!

Duan Ling has this feeling that he hasn’t done anything other than sleep since he left for this campaign. By now their troops are already garrisoned in Baihe, and the coldest period of winter is fast approaching. They must conclude this battle as soon as possible.

From afar comes the racket of a distant playfight. Duan Ling tries his best to get up quietly, but Li Jianhong is awake the instant he does. He puts his hand on Duan Ling’s shoulder and stops him from leaving.

“Where are you going?” Li Jianhong rolls onto his side, keeping one hand on his own forehead as he squints up at Duan ling. He clearly isn’t quite awake yet.

“Just going for a walk,” Duan Ling says, “I won’t cause any trouble.”

Li Jianhong holds onto Duan Ling’s sleeve. Only once Duan Ling promises that he won’t leave camp does Li Jianhong let him go.

The sun is shining brightly over the army encampment, and the soldiers salute Duan Ling as he walks past. Duan Ling yawns his way to the clearing where Chang Liujun and Mu Qing are making snowballs and having a snowball fight. The two toss snowballs at each other, occasionally breaking into laughter, and Chang Liujun’s head is covered in snow.

It looks like fun, so Duan Ling joins in. Chang Liujun is only watching from the sidelines at first, letting Duan Ling and Mu Qing have at it, but later on, as he starts to realise that Duan Ling has had a lot of practice and Mu Qing is no match for him, he can’t help but take part himself. As soon as Chang Liujun joins the fray, there is at once a reversal of fortunes on the battlefield.

“You two are fighting me two against one!” Duan Ling hoots, “That’s not fair!”

Hearing this cry, Lang Junxia rushes over. And so the snowball fight devolves into a chaotic melee, at last ending in one huge mess.

“We’d been looking for you for ages.” Covered in snow, Mu Qing says to Duan Ling, “Your dad was going mad with worry!”

Exasperated, Duan Ling says, “What was I supposed to do?”

Mu Qing had assumed the office of army secretary and came on this expedition alongside Chang Liujun; just like Duan Ling, he was deadset about coming along, and even covered for Duan Ling on the road several times. This is the first time Mu Qing had ever marched with an army, but fortunately, with Chang Liujun watching over him, he hasn’t gotten into any trouble.

“What’s the plan?” Lang Junxia asks.

“No idea,” Duan Ling says, spreading his hands. “Let’s just wait for my dad to decide. As for when we launch that assault, when we go home — everything is still up in the air.”

Knowing Li Jianhong, he definitely won’t let this drag on for too long. He’s not saying anything now, but he may already have everything in place and ready to go, and he’s just waiting for a good time to put his plans into motion.

The four of them sit in a row in front of the army camp. Chang Liujun had ordered some ginger and red bean soup from the kitchens, and now they’re eating some piping hot soup.

“Qing’er.” Noting that Mu Qing looks like he has something on his mind, Duan Ling calls his name.

“Eh?” Mu Qing looks up. Ever since Li Jianhong and Li Yanqiu joined hands and got rid of the Mu clan, Mu Qing has found out that his true identity is that of Chang Liujun’s son, and he’s momentarily finding it difficult to adjust to the idea. It’s all thanks to Duan Ling’s protection that no one’s gone after him for any wrongdoing.

In any case, Mu Qing is a graduate of the palace exams and held an official position in the imperial court, so even though he’s been given special amnesty by Li Jianhong, he would inevitably become the subject of gossip if he were to remain at court. His father is also a bodyguard of the crown prince, so suddenly there are rumours flying all over the place — compared to when his dad was Mu Kuangda, his status is like night and day.

“I want to fight,” Mu Qing says.

“Me too,” Duan Ling says expressionlessly.

The two of them scratch out diagrams on a table covered in snow to analyze the nearby terrain. They have no idea where the enemy is — that’s the crux of it, and if they march off recklessly they’ll just end up getting ambushed again. With a few rough lines, Duan Ling draws the landscape, and Mu Qing stares at it for a while before saying with his head tilted to one side, “We can follow the canyon to a lower elevation. I have a feeling that they have to be garrisoned behind Lake Yinlang.”

"And how did you know that?’

“On the night before last, Chang Liujun took me out searching for you, and we passed by that area. There wasn’t a single bird in that forest. Also, I noticed signs of the ice having been shattered, and then it froze again.”

Duan Ling circles out an area. " But even if they’re garrisoned by the shore of Lake Yinlang, with such a large area, you can’t possibly know where exactly they are."

“Let’s just go check on it again then.” Mu Qing is rather brazen in this regard actually; he says, “I reported it to the main forces, but they don’t believe me since I’ve never been to war.”

Lang Junxia says, “You’ve got a death wish.”

Chang Liujun says at once, “What happened over the last few days isn’t exactly over yet, and it’s taken a lot of work to blow over. If you guys leave camp again don’t you think you’re just going to get His Highness in trouble?”

Duan Ling is thinking quietly about this, and his eyes meet Mu Qing’s.

Duan Ling says, “Sure, I’ll assign you a team. You can investigate the area.”

“Um …” Chang Liujun frowns. He looks over at Mu Qing, then turns to Duan Ling.

Mu Qing says, “I’ll take writing utensils and paper with me. All I’ll need is twenty people. The rest of this would be easy if we can find the Goryeon army.”

“Are you serious?” Chang Liujun asks.

It doesn’t matter to Lang Junxia either way as long as Duan Ling doesn’t run off. After all, it’s only twenty people, and Duan Ling has the authority to assign the four great assassins as he wishes. All he needs to do is write an order signed by the crown prince; Li Jianhong wouldn’t object to it either.

“The time limit is forty-eight hours,” Duan Ling says. “If you don’t find anything once the time is up, you must head back.”

It’s exactly what Mu Qing wanted. He’s come with the army on this expedition in hopes of distinguishing himself so that he won’t simply be badmouthed by the court officials all the time. Duan Ling is also aware of what Mu Qing is trying to do, and he signs an order for Mu Qing to take a team with him right away. At any rate, Chang Liujun is watching over him, so not much is bound to go wrong.

Once the two of them finish going over the details, Duan Ling’s plan that he’s been hatching to ambush the enemy has started to take form. As soon as he receives intelligence from the scouts, all that’s left to do is to convince his father somehow. Li Jianhong, to Duan Ling’s surprise, is extremely cautious in war, and on the contrary it is his genteel, amicable uncle Li Yanqiu who most resembles Duan Ling; his decisions are always made and carried out in the same breath. Even in the middle of a court assembly, he’s more inclined to throw a vase and knock out an official with it rather than to compromise.

Li Jianhong’s years of experience leading the army have led to him forming a unique style of warfare; his and Duan Ling’s ideas often clash. It’s no easy task at all to completely persuade him.

And so, Duan Ling is in charge of taking his and Mu Qing’s plan to persuade Li Jianhong while Mu Qing and Chang Liujun leave camp to reconnoitre by the lakeshore.

“You’re a civil official,” Chang Liujun says, looking rather gloomy, “the old Sun family finally managed to produce a scholar — we’re all waiting for you to bring honour to the ancestors, you know. What are you doing running around with the crown prince doing all this fighting for?”

“I like it,” Mu Qing says, clearly can’t change his habit of ordering Chang Liujun around. He still can’t seem to treat him like a dad. As a child, he got used to having Chang Liujun as a servant, so now they’re still acting this way.

From Chang Liujun’s perspective, he’s already overjoyed at finally having their familial ties acknowledged, so naturally he’s not going to worry about such trifles as the virtues of Confucianism. He may be constantly upbraiding Mu Qing, but deep inside, he’s happy to work like a slave for him.

Chang Liujuin has changed into a set of rogue’s blacks, and with the Baihongjian worn at his waist, his figure is so big and tall that he looks like a shadow cast by Mu Qing when he’s standing behind him. All the people Duan Ling had assigned them are able fighters from Southern Chen; with such a team protecting Mu Qing, presumably nothing could go wrong.

Mu Qing pulls on the reins, turns his horse around, and whistles. Under Chang Liujun’s escort, he takes his subordinates away from the camp and fades into the night.

The sun is west of its zenith. A thick layer of ice had formed on the shore of Lake Yinlang, and their division disperses into the forest by the shore. Mu Qing dismounts to go on foot, walking along the shore slowly with Chang Liujun.

“This is the place we were at the day before yesterday,” Mu Qing says.

All’s quiet at Lake Yinlang, so quiet that it’s downright incomprehensible, and there’s something weird about it. Chang Liujun raises a finger against his lips and gestures for quiet. He takes Mu Qing’s hand and walks deeper into the forest.

At dusk, Li Jianhong is holding a meeting with his military officers.

“Wu Du has headed to Xiqing,” Li Jianhong says, “to determine what the Mongolians and Goryeons are planning. All we can do now is wait.”

“But we’re sure that the Goryeo army is nearby,” says one of the officers. “After they attacked us that night, they haven’t left the southern foothills of the Xianbei Mountains. Is Your Majesty planning to wait for the Mongolian reinforcements to get here before you strike?”

Li Jianhong says, “That is precisely what I was thinking. My whole purpose for this expedition north was to dissolve their alliance, after all. Even if we force the Goryeo army to retreat, we will still be attacked by the Mongolians on the way back.”

Duan Ling steps swiftly into the tent, and all the officers salute him. Duan Ling locks eyes with Li Jianhong.

“I sent a scouting party to the shores of Lake Yinlang,” Duan Ling says. “We’ll have the results tomorrow at the latest.”

Upon hearing this, Li Jianhong frowns.

“Why did you send them to Lake Yinlang?”

Duan Ling gives him a rough idea of what happened. Li Jianhong says, “Lake Yinlang is a difficult position to defend, and they would have their backs up against the cliffs. There’s no way the Goryeons can scale the mountains and come over here.”

Duan Ling and Li Jianhong start to argue, and the officers leave on their own accord so as to avoid getting dragged into a fight between the crown prince and the emperor.

“Let’s just see what happens!” Sometimes, Duan Ling has nothing to say to Li Jianhong.

“Who did you send?” Li Jianhong says, the furrow between his brows as tight as a knot.

“Chang Liujun and Mu Qing. None of you would believe Mu Qing.”

Li Jianhong can but drop it. Duan Ling says, “If we hear anything from them, we launch that full-on attack tomorrow?”

“We wait for Wu Du. Aside from Goryeo, our objective is also the Mongols. As long as they come as reinforcements, we’ll take them both out in one go.”

Duan Ling had no idea that Li Jianhong’s ambition was even greater than his own.

“But I’m not ready to have that fight with Batu yet …” Duan Ling says.

“That fight will have to come eventually.” Li Jianhong stares at Duan Ling intently and replies, “But as long as your dad is still around, it’s not time yet for you to carry it on your own shoulders.”

Duan Ling feels something in his heart soften, and there is nothing for him to do but nod — Li Jianhong has clearly arranged to meet the challenge of three years that Batu had set for him, but Duan Ling never doubted his father’s abilities. After all, Li Jianhong has never lost a single battle through all the times he’s led an army to war.

Night had fallen over the shore of Lake Yinlang. Paranoid, Mu Qing looks around him constantly.

“Chang Liujun, look that way and see what’s over there.”

“Nothing’s over there,” Chang Liujun says, exasperated. “You just wanted to make a name for yourself.”

Mu Qing is always calling him directly by name, and Chang Liujun doesn’t really mind either. It’s actually Duan Ling who tried to correct him time and time again, but Mu Qing just can’t quite seem to fix it.

“If we still can’t find anything tonight,” Chang Liujun says, “then we’ll have to start heading back.”

“Fine,” Mu Qing says listlessly. It seems he’s misjudged things again. How did that hole on the ice ever get there though? Snow’s fallen on the ice since, so he can’t see the clues he saw the last time anymore.

Chang Liujun sits down leeward and tightens the overcoat Mu Qing is wrapped in. He leans back on a tree trunk and turns to stare into the gloom of the forest. The soldiers who’d come along with them had all gone to search separately, leaving the two of them to stare into space for the night.

“Can we not do this again next time?” Chang Liujun says.

“I’m doing this all for your sake, you know,” Mu Qing says, frustrated.

“What do you mean it’s for my sake?”

“Zheng Yan can cook, Wu Du can command an army, Wuluohou Mu can assassinate,” Mu Qing says, bored, “you’re the only one who’s always following me around. You ought to at least be following Wang Shan around, you know. Of all the imperial bodyguards, you have the least work to do.”

“What do you mean I have the least work to do? I …” Chang Liujun finds this downright inexplicable. He stares at Mu Qing, and as he’s about to retort, he thinks for a moment and realises that Mu Qing is right. Since Li Jianhong’s return, aside from helping to overthrow Mu Kuangda, he hasn’t really done much to make a name for himself, and spent the rest of his time running circles around Mu Qing. Li Jianhong sympathises with his plight, and keeping in mind how difficult it was for Chang Liujun to get his son back, rarely sends him out on dangerous missions.

Mu Qing stares at him with now you get it written all over his face, so Chang Liujun can but change his tune. “Who do you think His Majesty is? He’s not so narrow-minded.”

“But the officials of the court won’t think that. Wang Shan gives me enough special treatment as is. Ultimately, we ought to rely on ourselves when it comes to other stuff.”

Chang Liujun’s eyes narrow slightly as though he’s smiling.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Call me,” Chang Liujun says, “Call me … let me hear it.”

“Call you what?” Mu Qing asks.

Chang Liujun seems a bit embarrassed about it, but then the wind is howling in the forest, and a high-pitched cry is reverberating through the trees. Mu Qing feels all his hair stand on end. He’s still a boy after all, and when he hears something so strange he can’t help but feel a fright tremble through him.

“Don’t be afraid,” Chang Liujun says. “Those are wolves. I’ll kill them.”

Chang Liujun puts one hand on his sword’s hilt, but doesn’t get up, and remains seated while Mu Qing grabs at a corner of his black robe, staring into the dark nervously.

A pair of eyes seems to be spying on them from the darkness.

Suddenly, there is a great roar, but it’s not a wild wolf — a ball of something black is charging at them! Mu Qing is so scared that he shouts out loud, and Chang Liujun immediately turns around and stands before him like a shield.

“Don’t be afraid! It’s a bear!” Chang Liujun shouts.

It turns out that the beast is a wild bear, half-starved in the winter, its red maw open wide. Standing on its hind legs, it’s a full head taller than Chang Liujun. It throws itself at him.

“Careful!” Mu Qing says.

The wild bear throws itself at Chang Liujun, pushing him onto the ground, and Mu Qing lets out another yell. He wants to help, but Chang Liujun rolls under the bear and gets back on his feet. He howls, “Don’t come over here! Stand right there and don’t move! Trust me!”

Mu Qing draws the dagger he always carries with him, holding it in one hand and not daring to move. “I’ll … I’ll go get help!”

“Don’t go anywhere!” Chang Liujun wrestles with the bear, rolling around in the snow; he fears that Mu Qing may rush out of the forest and get himself into even more danger. Mu Qing is so tense that he daren’t blink as he stares at Chang Liujun. Chang Liujun makes a running start up a tree trunk, the Baihongjian flashing a dazzling arc through the air.

Before he knows it, Chang Liujun had leapt past the wild bear’s head, and with a backhanded turn of his arm, buried the blade in the side of the beast’s neck.

“You’re dead!” Chang Liujun shouts.

The wild bear stops breathing at the dull sound of metal cutting into flesh, lets out a muffled grunt, and falls to the ground.

Mu Qing is so scared that his knees are weak. Chang Liujun’s mask had fallen to the ground. He takes a few deep breaths and turns to him. “You alright?”

Mu Qing lets out a sigh of relief, but as he’s about to run over to Chang Liujun, his lapel tightens around his neck — someone’s wrapped a hand around his collar.

Mu Qing and Chang Liujun both stare ahead of them, stunned.

All of a sudden, countless shadowy figures appear out of the forest, and someone pulls Mu Qing backwards while the rest points their arrows at Chang Liujun.

“Dad —!” Mu Qing lets out a scream.

The arrows are fired all at once, and like rain, fly towards Chang Liujun.

This translation is by foxghost, on tumblr and kofi. I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, it was reposted without permission. Do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎

[shinkutsuuki]

Cat slave owner experience is when you're having meal and your cat/kitten barged in biting and toying with dead rat.

[shinkutsuuki]

2023 Art Plans & Patreon

Patreon link

2022, despite all its raw trashfire energy, has been one of great learning for me. In the course of those 12 months, I: 1) finally purchased a cheap light board, allowing me to sketch on a separate piece of paper to trace the lineart, instead of drawing straight on the watercolor paper (I know, I can’t believe I stuck with stupid for so long); 2) introduced fountain pen inks into my repertoire, which has now expanded to include 3 main painting inks; 3) added gold foil and metallic paints into my watercolor pieces; and 4) gotten more familiar with gouache, and finally being able to paint pieces I like with it.

With those in mind, I’ve been wondering where to focus my attention to next year. I’ve been wanting to introduce better backgrounds to my illustrations for a while now, but it frankly has been harder than anticipated. So to make it easier on myself, I figured that I would ease myself back in by doing more sketches like below. In addition, I will do digital studies, which would both cut down on wasted material and be far more forgiving. Monthly, and probably pretty casual; I don’t want to stress it so much that I end up becoming more intimidated by it.

Another thing that I’d like to work on is my digital style, but on that front, I’m still unsure which direction to take. I’ll update you on that. But adjacent to that is that I realized recently that Impressionistic pieces often have color palettes I really would like to imitate, and perhaps that might be where I’ll take my digital style? I want texture and I want marks. For the time being, though, I’ll play around with the digital style some more before settling on something concrete. Meanwhile, I’ll probably use my modified, muted pastel gouache set to study and explore colors, since I struggle with using digital for that– something about too much option and being unable to feel anchored.

In light of this, I’ve decided that the list might go like this:

- Sketch more backgrounds, maybe do a 2-3 tone monochrome shading to get back into thinking of pieces with backgrounds - Do a small digital background study once a month - Introduce the use of masking fluid into my watercolor toolkit - Use my custom, pale pastel gouache set to play with colors more until I find a comfortable niche

It will be a journey, but it’s one I plan to share with everyone. At the same time, though, I think I will be sharing the ugly, along with the good, over on my newly made Patreon. I have plans for 2023 that includes physical goods, but I can’t take the financial risk and don’t have the energy nor consistent enough inspiration for a shop. A tier I added to that is intended to allow me to play around with the physical goods idea without the pressure of needing to come up with a big array of “new things” to sell monthly.

That being said, a follow, both here on Tumblr and over on Patreon are support enough for me. I do just enjoy drawing and painting, and while I do it for myself, it does make me happy to know that there are people interested in the results.

Thank you for being here!

- namio

[shinkutsuuki]

goncharov

[shinkutsuuki]

husbands

[shinkutsuuki]

How to Read Manhua on Bilibili: Legal, Free, and in English

In my posts on this blog, I keep sharing screen caps from manhua I've read on Bilibili, along with the link to read it yourself, but I know:

This blog doesn't have all that many followers.

It's one thing for me to post the link and quite another for people to realize just how easy this is to do.

Considering how often I see English-speaking MXTX/c-novel/c-drama/donghua fandom peeps screaming and begging for more content, I'm now begging you in return:

STOP SLEEPING ON THE BILIBILI APP!

If you want more danmei content, fully legal, entirely free, already translated, you literally c.a.n.n.o.t. do better than using the Bilibili app to read manhua. That's not to say this is a perfect method - their translations are...um...wanting sometimes? (Shout out to the four pages in a row I recently read where someone broke in to a residence and every time the breaker-inner was mentioned they were called "the intrud") But it's still ALL THERE, FOR US, ANYTIME, and the more eyes the manhua in the apps gets, the more content we'll get, so please, PLEASE, if you're out there thirsting for danmei content, DO THIS.

Wondering how?

Well, I've got you covered.

WAY 1: The Bilibili Manhua Website

I know I said "get the app" but honestly you don't even need an app to do this! You can read on Bilibili using any web browser.

The website is Bilibilicomics.com.

It looks like this:

Yes, you're reading that right: there's an entire section of BL.

There's also an entire section of GL!

There are 38 titles in GL and 121 titles, yes ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE titles, in BL.

AND there's het stuff, and non-romance stuff too!

New episodes general come out weekly or biweekly, though a few things are daily. The website is often a few chapters ahead of the app (which I actually didn't realize until just now - Chapter 55 of Legend of Exorcism, for example, came out today on the app, but it lists 60 episodes as available on the website. Which, considering the cliffhanger I just read... *eyes emoji*...though apparently in other cases there are more chapters on the app than on the website, so ymmv.)

The best-known title available (again: FOR FREE. OFFICIALLY. LEGALLY. IN ENGLISH) is Tian Guan Ci Fu. When you go to a specific title's page, you get this...

...and reading it is as simple as selecting the chapter you want, clicking it, and et voila! Just scroll down and read to your heart's content!!

NOTE: SOME CHAPTERS WILL HAVE WAIT TIMES. More on this shortly.

WAY 2: The Bilibili App for Android

I personally have been reading primarily from the Android app, since I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and a lot of time sprawled on my couch while my kids watch cartoons.

You can download the app from the Play store - here's a link, for what that's worth.

It looks, essentially, like this (I'm logged in so mine looks a little different than non-logged-in, I made an account even tho you don't actually need one):

If you don't want to make an account, you don't have to. If you choose to, as you see it'll try to guess what other titles you might like. tbh I have no idea how good these recommendations may be; I'm still reading/catching up on the specific titles I wanted to read so I haven't had to try their recommendations yet. But, there's definitely some stuff that looks interesting (that top middle one definitely looks up my alley...)

You can also "favorite" things (again: EVEN WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT) and it'll store them in your library and make a red dot (like you can see on the above screen cap) when something has an update you haven't read yet. For example, here's my Favorite list, which helps me keep track of what I'm reading and enjoying (or, well, in one case I'm more "wtfing" than "enjoying" but hey that still counts).

There's even a weird, like, "dress up" side game??? So like, every chapter you read there's a chance the app will drop a "card" and you can use the cards to dress your avatar up, and there's a whole crafting system built in? It's. A little odd. But, considering I recently quit my Love Nikki addiction after 3+ years, it's nice to get a small hit of pointless dress up.

Yes, my avatar is currently wearing San Lang's shirt.

The point is, again: this app is free to download, and incredibly easy to use, and even has a fun pointless side game.

BUT. There is one "but" here. See the Coins: 0 Top Up right below my randomly assigned username?

There is an optional pay system. What does it do? It reduces wait times.

Some titles, but not ALL, have a "built in delay" that kicks in at some point. On some, it seems to start when you're "within 5 chapters of the most recent" (that's what's happened with Global Examination and TGCF, for example). For others, it seems to be arbitrary - for A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, it kicked in at chapter 40 even tho there are, like, 80 something chapters up. Regardless, it always works the same.

The system functions using wait times, and it has 5 tiers that are always the same.

Tier 1: You must wait one minute before you can read the next chapter. This tier is rarely an issue; the count down sometimes (but not always??? it's weird) starts when you start a new chapter, and it almost always takes more than one minute to read a full chapter, so this tier is often "satisfied" before you even get to the next chapter.

Tier 2: You must wait six minutes before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 3: You must wait one hour before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 4: You must wait six hours before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 5: You must wait twenty-four hours before you can read the next chapter.

I initially thought this system functioned as "once you reach Tier 5, you're just stuck there and can only read a chapter a day" but it's turned out that's not the case - A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost having 40+ semi-locked chapters has given me the chance to actually test this a bit. In fact, what happens is:

The first time you hit a "wait delay" chapter, it puts you at Tier 1 and you have to wait a minute. The next chapter, you up to Tier 2, the next to Tier 3, then Tier 4, then Tier 5...and then it cycles back to Tier 1. So, with a little care and planning (which I almost always fail at) I can time reading something with many wait-delayed chapters such that I can read 5 chapters in one day, then I have to wait a full day, then I can read 5 more chapters.

Here's how it looks when you've done your waiting in purgatory and can now read on...

...and here's how it looks when the sad trombones play...

Now, I mentioned I'd circle back to the coins? THE TIME HAS COME! Because, look - for 17 coins, you can read on instantly!! Alternatively, if you're willing to share on social media, you can also skip (I have no if that's something you can do over and over, or just once, cause I haven't tried - you can skip the wait time once for free). This begs the question, then...is 17 coins a lot?

And the answer is...

...eh not really, no. Ten bucks will get you the ability to pay 17 coins many, many times (58, to be precise), but honestly? I haven't spent a penny yet and I've caught up on 7 different titles and am steadily reading through two more (one of which hasn't had wait times kick in yet, I just can only read so fast).

All of which is to say: yes, there's a pay system, and tbh, I'm probably going to throw them a few bucks not because I care about the wait times but because I'm getting so much enjoyment out of reading these titles and I want to support them a little (I also bought the print version of the TGCF vol. 1 and will likely buy the other volumes, and I once-upon-a-time paid to watch TGCF s. 1 streaming as they came out). With a little patience there is absolutely zero call for spending even one penny to read as much of this cornucopia as you want.

WAY 3: Download the Bilibili App on Apple

I don't have access to an iPhone and don't feel like grabbing my tablet rn and I've hit the Tumblr image limit anyway, but the Apple app looks about the same as the Android app, and you can download it HERE.

Basically: use the website, or download the app for whichever platform you're using, and READ, READ, READ!

So, what is there to read?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

(okay, cutting to a read more)

I've been reading on the app pretty regularly for like two months (prior to that I was only reading TGCF, and only when I remembered, which was rarely), but I'm juggling a lot AND reading other stuff too so I am far from having explored the wide range of options. I can, however, highlight a few I think are likely to be of interest to a danmei-reading audience. Note that of these, I've only read the novels for TGCF, TYQHM, and Daomu Biji, which means that I only know as far as the manhuas have covered for the rest - I haven't read farther than that yet.

A. Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The one, the only - this is the official manhua with art by Starember. It tells the story of newly ascended god Xie Lian trying to navigate the intricacies of the heavenly bureaucracy, figure out his place in the world, and understand why a sexy guy in red keeps showing up in his life. (Worst synopsis ever award goes to: ME!). The English translation is currently on episode 77, which has Xie Lian and Hua Cheng in the gambler's den. A volume just ended, which means it's on hiatus temporarily - there's usually a month or two break between volumes - so it'll be back soon!

B. Global Examination by Mu Su Li. Based on the book Global University Entrance Examination, featuring art by E Zi. Global Examination is a story set in a dystopian near-future about a world where groups of people are randomly selected (read: kidnapped and forced) to participate in an "exam" where they have to answer extremely complex puzzles. If they succeed, they get to live and become one of the people who administer the exam. If they fail, they die. Despite the premise sounding dark, it's really not been so bad and I've been reassured it won't become so. The story itself focuses on You Huo, a recently selected examinee with amnesia, the other people in his examinee group, and Examiner 001, who clearly has some kind of history with You Huo. If only he didn't also have amnesia, we might even know what that history is...

C. Dinghai Fusheng Records and Legend of Exorcism, both based on the books of the same names written by Fei Tian Ye Xiang. The art for Dinghai Fusheng Records is by Qianerbai (who has also done a lot of work for the Mo Dao Zu Shi audio drama) and for Legend of Exorcism, it's by Warp. These stories are set in the same 'verse, at least several hundred years apart; it's a xianxia high-fantasy setting, and the main enemies are resentment monsters and demons (...or are they? dun dun duuuun). Dinghai Fusheng Records takes place, chronologically, first, and occurs a couple hundred years after a calamity caused all qi to fade from the world - there are only mortals, and no one can cultivate. It follows Chen Xing, a young man born with a gift, as he seeks his protector - Xiang Shu - and others, and they encounter (surprise!) unspeakable evil. Legend of Exorcism takes place in the "future" of Dinghai Fusheng Records, and focuses on Kong Hongjun, a half-demon boy who has received a summons to join the Exorcism Department, as he explores the mortal world for the first time and gets to know the others who have summoned to join the Department, especially the mortal leader Li Jinglong.

D. Daomu Biji titles, originally by Nanpai Sanshu. There are two DMBJ titles on Bilibili right now, though both only have a few chapters, and the website lists them as "on hiatus." I've read them both, and am not entirely sure what's up with one especially, but... Grave Robbers' Chronicles starts where Book 1 starts, with changes of course but it's quite recognizable as the initial "Wu Xie is brought a silk scroll and gets curious and then Wu Sanxing gets involved" plot line. The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Seven Dreams is...odder...and as far as I can tell is an alternate canon/AU which starts with a "what if" of "what if the Zhang's were incredibly abusive, raised child!Zhang Qiling themselves, and Wu Xie and he met as kids." It's. Um. Extremely weird. And not for those sensitive to kids getting beaten bloody. But I'm still hoping they'll release more than 9 chapters, if only because I'm curious.

E. A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, based on the novel A Sword of Frost by Yu Xiao Lanshan. This one opens with the Prince Ji Yanran approaching Sect Master Yun Yifeng, who runs a sect of spies and information collectors, to ask for help finding an item that has been stolen from the palace. In exchange, he promises to give Yun Yifeng the cure to an ailment that plagues him. Problem 1: he doesn't actually have this cure. Problem 2: everywhere they go people start dying. Problem 3: catching feels for the pretty Sect Master. Despite having the trappings of xianxia, this story has actually thus far been a sequence of murder mysteries with politics-related causes.

F. Saved the Public Enemy By Mistake by Liu Muqiao. If this is based on a novel, I haven't been able to track it down. It's xianxia; demon immortal cultivator Liu Jianghe shows up, nearly dead, on the doorstep of famed doctor Lu Jiu who is just trying to live a quiet life in seclusion. Not knowing who Liu Jianghe is, Lu Jiu saves him, and thus stumbles into a mess of politics and history he doesn't understand...but nothing is actually how it seems, there's amnesia and hidden back stories galore, there's a heavy side plot of sword lesbians, and honestly I've read like 50 chapters and I'm still a little lost but the art is pretty and I really need to read the reveal on the two MCs history together so I'm sticking with it. Warning that it's got a fair amount of blood and gore.

G. Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by Man Man He Qi Duo. A historical (non-cultivation) setting focused on politics, machinations, and the long history and deep love between Zhong Wan - former top-scorer on the national exam who lost his position when his adopted father was accused of treason - and Yu She, of dubious parentage and believed by most people to be the bastard son of the Emperor. I loved the book for this, and finding out that the manhua was on Bilibili is a lot of what drove me to download the app.

So - that's everything I'm currently reading: 6 titles inspired by explicitly BL danmei titles, 2 based on other books I like that aren't BL, and 1 BL that just looked interesting and my taste.

There's SO MUCH MORE, seriously. I'm going to be reading on this app for months and still finding more, I'm positive of it.

But unforth, I hear you say, there's some other manhua I want to read! What about Mo Dao Zu Shi? What about Erha? Are those on Bilibili? Can I read them? And the answer, sadly, is no. Those two are published by Kuaikan, which does not offer free legal English translations at this time. But! I am holding out hope that if the audience for Bilibili grows, other manhua publishers will see the profitability in emulating them. I cannot guarantee that anything we do will result in this happening, but I do feel pretty confident that if we don't read with the options currently available, we sure ain't likely to get more options.

SO. GO FORTH. READ THE THINGS I'VE MENTIONED. READ OTHER THINGS. COME BACK AND TELL ME WHAT YOU LOVED SO I HAVE SOME IDEA WHAT TO READ NEXT.

PLEASE.

I'm begging. GO READ MANHUA!!!

RIGHT NOW.

ON BILIBILI.

(and signal boost this post to get other people to do the same!! help the small fandoms grooooow! I really just wrote all of this so I'd have someone to scream with about the current awful that is the recent chapters of Legend of Exorcism PLEASE WE ALL NEED SQUEEMATES COME READ!!! THE THINGS! THEY'RE GOOD! WITH PRETTY ART!)

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Chibis for Chicken Gege fundraiser donations!

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“Only Meng Feng can do this. I’m not going anywhere without him.”

MENG FENG x LIU YAN in Mo Ri Shu Guang, adapted from the novel 2013 by Feitian Yexiang

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Lu Ying

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Some old Dinghai arts