#and basically mxtx had so much fun with the category of villain in this book

[whetstonefires]

You know, I've been thinking about it, and it is absolutely essential to the narrative that Jiang Cheng is a dick and a trash fire. (Affectionate.)

Like, first of all, if he was a sainted little angel of a shidi the way Jiang Yanli is a shijie, Wei Wuxian's choices would become obvious, sort of impersonal, and boring.

Sure, lots of people wouldn't tear themselves apart for such a person in such a scenario, but they're not the protagonists of novels, are they; in a book you have to justify not doing that. So white lotus Jiang Cheng is off the table.

Jiang Cheng who isn't fragile-and-insecure but also stubborn-as-hell and violently reactive also won't wash.

If he wasn't the kind of person who sincerely tries to die under these circumstances, Wei Wuxian would have had the option of loyally supporting him in a less self-destructive way; if he was someone who could be trusted to handle the revelation without suffering a ruinous fracture of identity, Wei Wuxian wouldn't have been forced to distance himself after the war, because he could have come clean.

If Jiang Cheng wasn't the kind of person who centers on his own pride and hurt feelings and lashes out about it, it would be very hard to set up the lategame scenario where they're 'enemies' in a real, meaningful way, despite still loving each other and Wei Wuxian never wishing Jiang Cheng any ill. Even with Jiang Yanli's death.

And I mean, you could get most of the plot without doing this interesting thematic examination of the classic 'bond between martial brothers severed by one going to the dark side' trope, but I'd argue you'd lose an enormous chunk of the story.

And without Jiang Cheng's weaknesses, Wei Wuxian's motives don't cohere. His weaknesses form the foundation of at least two of the backstory's major turning points.

There's the tantalizing possibility that Wei Wuxian wouldn't have done it, if Jiang Cheng hadn't strangled him while blaming him for everything.

Probably he would have, all else being equal! But neither we nor Jiang Cheng can be sure.

Jiang Cheng sucking a lot, and knowing his own flaws perfectly well without that granting him the ability to do much about them, is heavily load-bearing. Which gives him such a fantastic implied point of view!

[bafflinghaze]

Hi! You’re one of my favorite Drarry writers but I’ve also realized you like danmei (Chinese bl novels)! Heaven Official’s Blessing and anything by MXTX is awesome, but I was wondering if you know any other good novel recs? See, I would privately message this but I’m shy >\\\<

 HELLLLLOOOOO. Yes, aside from MXTX, I have so many good novel recs. I’m currently obsessed with e-sport novels lol, but I’ll categories them for you~

(Also, feel free to privately message me 🥺)

But first, my absolute favourite, the only one I’ve actually written fanfic for is:

Very Happy: happy actor x unhappy CEO, SUPER SOFT, SUPER FLUFFY, (and some good, good angst), I’ve re-read this like...over five times 🥺🥺🥺 Sooo much doting and devotedness~

Okay, now for the other recs, which are ranked by favourite ness within each category. Also, warning that some of these may or not may not be completed...

*(for people who don’t know, MC is main character, and ML is his love interest~)

Cultivation & ancient china novels:

Heavenly Soul by crimson_carnation: This is an original English BL xianxia, but you WON’T REGRET IT. The MC and ML are both super strong, and ML is really good at consent and there’s a lot of explicit sex (the beauty of original English hehe). There’s also a lot of other BL side couples too!

The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish: This...the MC transmigrates into the body of a fish. Sounds crack, doesn’t it? BUT IT’S SO GOOD. It’s so surprising just how many interactions MC can have with ML while in fish form. And then MC gains the ability to turn into a human for short amounts of time...and the humour shoots straight up. ML is SO THIRSTY haha. There’s also fanart already on twitter

The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post: The funny thing is the MC (gong) becomes a divine tree based human, and the ML is a cute cat that has cultivated to human form. So the MC is literally the ML’s scratching post 😂 MC is the ultimate crafting cultivator and has made many, many treasures, and also spends priceless amounts of materials and money on making cat items for his ML/master/previous pet cat.

The Jade Veterinarian by tigerine: another original English BL, the MC is a vet by accident. In the story, there are jade animals that have the ability to purify the land. However, for some reason, many of these animals have been...buried, have stopped working. MC ends up reviving them, and the jade animals love him haha

Modern novels:

Very Happy, of course.

Death Progress Bar: OMG. THIS. ACTION TO THE EXTREME! The MC goes from weak to strong AF, the ML is the leader of the biggest underworld organisation. The MC and ML protect each other~ Also, the MC’s five older brothers...they get so amusing as the story progresses.

Reborn with an Old Enemy on the Day of our Marriage: This is like enemies to lovers, but with the two main characters both being reborn back to their last year of school! SO FUN. Imagine if Harry and Draco slowly became friends and eventually got married post-war, but then returned back to Hogwarts at the start of Eighth Year, making everyone confused when H & D “suddenly” are best of friends 😂😂😂

King of Classical Music: The music, the details about how orchestras work....so good.... the MC was murdered and rebirthed into another violinist (in the same world) and he used this second chance in life to become an even more powerful and amazing violinist. The ML is an OP pianist lol

I’m Afraid I’m Now a Salted Fish: MC is a low-key actor, and ML is a boss at his entertainment company. BUT the twist is that MC wants to be a salted fish. ML wants to give him all the resources but MC is like no thanks!! And everyone thinks that MC and ML have a sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship, but it’s actually really cute and loving. ML wished he could act more the sugar daddy lol.

Rebirth of a Cannon Fodder from a Novel: MC had a horrible life, and was rebirthed back, also learning that he was a cannon fodder in a novel that centered around his sister’s amazingly lucky life. I really like this, because MC is smart, and the face-slapping is about using the law to persecute all the villains, and he only does this after they do something bad (i.e. it’s not like he’s punishing them for their crimes in his past life, grudges aside). ML is a CEO~

After Brushing Face At The Apocalypse’s Boss For 363 Days: the only “apocalypse” novel that I’ve actually read, it’s cool because the main character lives in both the original world and in the apocalypse world, and I thought the interactions of the MC and ML were amusing

Pastel Colours: The MC is a children's book illustrator, the ML works creating robots. Most of this is the MC looking after the ML’s cute little kid. There is angst about MC’s past, but overwhelming a lot of cuteness and love.

E-sport novels:

My Teammates Are All Crazy: This is SO CRACK. The MC plays what is considered the weakest character in the game. And he joins an e-sport team that...likes also to play the most random characters. This is FUN AF. When they start playing, they make the opposing team spit up blood so many times by playing the “weak” or “beginner” characters and completely trashing the opposing team.

The E-Sports Circle’s Toxic Assembly Camp: Here, “toxic” refers more to their trash talk rather than actually being toxic. The MC is the coach of the team, and ML is the team captain. Both of them are really strong gamers. 

Glory: The MC...he has such a glib mouth lol, basically flirting (with the ML) 24/7 but this “flirting” is just his admiration for ML. The ML is so conflicted because he likes the MC, but the MC is completely oblivious.

PUBG Online Romance of the Century: ...MC is such a voice con lol. He’s a livestreamer, and his first backer is ML. And ML’s voice...is to die for lolll. 

God Level Summoner: If I had to compare any other e-sport novel with The King’s Avatar, it would be God Level Summoner. The MC, an experienced gamer, is collecting a team, and fighting their way up the league! The battles are so detailed, and the MC and ML, although on different teams, are SO OP and BADASS whenever they pair up with each other.

Other:

Beloved Husband: (quick transmigration) A novel from the seme/gong perspective! The premise is that the seme transmigrates into the world, without any memories, but always falls in love immediately with his shou/uke. The previous owner of the body was a scum, but the main character isn’t, and does his best to love his husband~

Live Broadcasting Raising Dragons in the Interstellar: What it says on the tin, lol. It’s an A/B/O setting...that basically doesn’t come up. The MC has transmigrated and retains his abilities from his previous world. But again, it’s not so important, the important point is this calm, serious, somewhat cold-faced MC raises the cutest like dragon orphans and dragon kids. The ML is a dragon (dragons also have human form), and the ML is like...sometimes the smallest baby of all hehe