#but then also it could be because tgcf is much longer so book 3 is really not that far into the story

[cosmic-carpals]

realizing on book 3 of tgcf that i actually don't enjoy it.....tragic

[orenji-iro-no-sora]

Thoughts on TGCF Vol 2

Vol 1 | Vol 2| Vol 3| Vol 4| Vol 5| Vol 6| Vol 7| Vol 8

*Spoilers*

Firstly, the pace of the books has been just right. I could feel the tension rising gradually. After an almost light hearted investigation in the first book, this one definitely got more and more thrilling (and serious) but it didn't feel sudden at all.

Eming and good times in the Ghost City

I'd say one of my favourite parts of the second volume were the Hualian moments in the Ghost City. It was definitely the calm before the storm though. I could feel my heart racing when Hua Cheng appeared from the curtain. How did the author add so much tension when all they were doing was shaking a dice cup, I don't know!

Eming, the scimitar that could destroy heavenly officials, is childlike and sweet. I imagined it would be fierce because Jun Wu warned against it, but MXTX used it to show how different Hua Cheng is from what people think of him.

I theorised that maybe with Hua Cheng missing an eye, it probably belonged to the scimitar and Eming possessed his child spirit and could express emotions that Hua Cheng repressed. But that's just a theory and probably wrong considering that the spiritual instruments of MDZS all had a life and personality of their own so it's not possible for Eming to somehow have a part of Hua Cheng in it. Also in Arc 2, only one of his eyes was visible, so maybe he was blind from the start. I think this will be revealed later on.

Powerless Gods

With more insight into Ling Wen and her inability to get devotees despite being one of the hardest workers in the realm, and the Wind Master having to take up a female role, even the Gods are not spared from sexism, prejudices, and gender expectations. It's obvious considering their worshippers are humans who have been conditioned by society, and like Xie Lian says: "Who cared whether you were a god or a ghost? You were whatever people believed you to be."

At the end of the day, for Gods, worshippers carry the most power. While devotees fear the Heavens, they are the source of the official's "merits". Xie Lian was right to question the power dynamics between immortals and worshippers. Officials are helpless in how people perceive them (like Feng Xin lol), and they're powerless when it comes to mortal matters. They can't interfere and they can't influence.

And this truth, I believe, is one of the biggest sources of conflict for Xie Lian. He understands better than anyone that he's powerless (and yet powerful) which is why he fears disappointing others and doing the wrong thing (as he has already gone through it all in the past) and which is also why ascending for him, in my opinion, is a curse. He believed that by walking the path of the cultivator, he could become the saviour of his people. That his determination and goodwill could and would lead to eternal peace.

But in reality, there's no point to his ascension. The world carries its own fate and he can't change destiny. He's even more restricted in what he can do as he's no longer a mortal. While insults and harsh words can't stop him, as I believe Xie Lian has always been very confident in his virtue, I think they hurt just the same because he couldn't live up to his own convictions and they're a constant reminder of his shameful past.

Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng aren't what they are rumoured to be. The kind of people they are, and how they have been perceived by others do not align. But that's pretty much the case for all characters. In reality too, people always see what they want to see.

However what's interesting is that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng have been imagined to the opposite extremes of the spectrum. To Lang Qianqiu, Xie Lian was a saint. (I'd admit that when he asked Qianqiu to not venerate him, I realised I had done the same.) To others, he was a failure and Hua Cheng was the devil. But both of them were more than that.

Xie Lian's frustration: the injustices despite kindness

In this sense, they both were their truest versions with each other. Which is why, when Xie Lian, finally, finally expressed his frustration and anger, it was to Hua Cheng.

Throughout vol 1, I was waiting for Xie Lian to express some irritation or anger or something that wasn't gentle acceptance. If he had fought Jun Wu after his ascension, he must have been pissed. And there's so much in his life that was unjust that there's no way he wouldn't be. Maybe 800 years is enough to get over it, I said to myself, but there must be days when it hits him. Every step he took, he took to save the common people but saving the people didn't coincide with doing the right thing.

For me, the most important part of the second book was when Xie Lian talked about the injustice of the Guilded Banquet. "He simply felt deeply wronged. He’d acted with such benevolence, but he didn’t receive equivalent kindness in return... I just don’t think it’s right for someone to have been kind but still meet a bad end. I don’t think it should have ended up this way."

Truer words have not been said!! I think one of the hardest aspects of doing the right thing, the kind thing, being morally and ethically inclined is that in this world, benevolence is rarely reciprocated. And I needed Xie Lian to say it. And he did. And I was glad that he admitted to it all.

Because despite knowing that kindness will not guarantee paradise, it may even lead to chaos, to him (and to me), it's still the right thing to do. That's why he wanted Qianqiu to continue being kind, even when the consequences were nonsense. That's why he'd take the blame and bear the responsibility.

Flowers and Butterflies, the cyclical nature of Hualian's fate

Finally, I really wanted to talk about Hualian and their intertwined fate. When Xie Lian saved Hua Cheng during the procession, he appeared like a white ethereal butterfly. And later when Hua Cheng rescues him, he uses his butterflies (deadly to others but gentle to xie lian) to break into Heaven. 'Hua' means flower is what Xie Lian saves at first and what becomes a symbol of his gentleness. And then later, Hua Cheng is the one who sought flowers and protected Xie Lian.

Also Hua Cheng is said to bring misfortune to all those around him and Xie Lian is the darling of the Heavenly Emperor. But he ends up believing that he's unlucky and causes harm to everyone near him and isolates himself while Hua Cheng always says that he's the luckiest.

In a way, their fates have been reversed. But also, they directly or indirectly brought fortune/misfortune in each other's life. Maybe it can be said that Xie Lian's ascension, which I think was his misfortune, was a result of Hua Cheng's star of solitude. Maybe Hua Cheng's power is Xie Lian's blessings. Or maybe everything has been fated and destined to happen exactly as it happened. Either way, I think it's neat.

[veliseraptor]

June Reading Recap

Heaven Official's Blessing: vol. 6 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. BOOK FOUR OF TGCF BABY, WE LOVE A DOWNWARD SPIRAL

I'm not saying that book four and all of the continuous trauma and misery that comes with it is my favorite part of TGCF as a whole, but I am saying it's very good for me personally and has some of my favorite moments.

Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City by Ben Wilson. I read Darwin Comes to Town some years ago and was very struck by it (drove people around me crazy by referencing it constantly in conversation), so when I saw this book on a new releases table I immediately put it on my to-read list. I ended up being...not dissatisfied with it, but not really satisfied, either. A solid 3-star read, for some interesting stuff around how cities have and are dealing with the question of nature in an urban environment. Read interestingly paired with Fuzz by Mary Roach, which I also read recently.

I felt like in some places the author veered a little more into apologetics for why cities are good for nature, actually, than I found strictly convincing. But I'd say if you've got some spare time and any interest in urban infrastructure and the natural world, it's worth a read.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. A second book in recent memory that was a retelling of a Greek myth and didn't make me actively angry! I don't know that I'd say I recommend it either, though. There were things I liked about it, and it was certainly interesting to see an iteration of the story of Clytemnestra that makes use of the version where Agamemnon was her second marriage and she had a previous husband and child. I think what I lost with that version, though, was that it ended up with an Agamemnon who was never anything but nasty and brutish, which, while I don't necessarily mind that as a version, I think makes for a slightly less compelling story. A genuine betrayal is always more fun than vindication of existing hatred, don't you know.

If you're as obsessed with Clytemnestra specifically as I am then I'd say to read this even though it's not the best work of Clytemnestra lit I've read, but otherwise I don't think I'd recommend it more broadly.

Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini. I checked this one out from the library and was deeply self conscious as the librarian was looking at the title, because boy could that go a lot of directions. Ultimately, I appreciated a lot of what this book was doing, and learned a great deal, but I don't think I'd say I enjoyed it, even in the sense that one can enjoy a book like this. I felt like it dwelt a lot more on the history of race science than I was expecting it to, and didn't dig as much into the current (as in, past 10 years) resurgence as I would've liked. She got into some of it, but it felt like most of the book was more about the 20th century than the 21st. Still, though, a compelling and thorough overview of the history of race science in Europe and North America.

The Gathering Storm / Towers of Midnight / A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan. I feel like I have no way of objectively assessing Wheel of Time as a series because it is so intensely intertwined with a whole bunch of really strong emotions and I recognize that. That being said, I did cry during A Memory of Light so I was obligated to give it five stars by my own rule, even if overall I don't think it's one of my favorites. I spent too much time during this readthrough thinking about Brandon Sanderson-isms and I would have appreciated if I hadn't been doing that, but I wouldn't have been doing it if it didn't feel so obvious to me.

I think of these three The Gathering Storm is my personal favorite. Reading Rand in it got really rough, though, and I think I'm sort of in the minority in not hating the catharsis on Dragonmount at the end. I can see peoples' points with it, but for me personally I don't think the tension could've gone on any longer and I don't know that I have a tone-consistent way of releasing it that I would've written.

That's all for June, which was a pretty slow reading month...probably going into another one for July. Currently I'm reading Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder (a historian I've read before and really liked); I'm not sure what I'm going to read next but leaning toward one of the SFF new releases waiting for me on my shelf. Maybe Witch King by Martha Wells. I do want to try to finish QJJ this month, also - I'm very close to the end, just need to sit down and read the rest in ~an hour or so.

Also: taking horror novel recommendations, I've been feeling a hankering lately.

[weirdcat1213]

MXTX and Marie Lu: an unnecessary long post about writers I like very very much

spoilers for Heaven Officials Blessing and the Legend series but not that bad

tldr; They describe things and I like that but I had to make it this long and add some stuff about writing and cultural expectations cuz i guess ill always be an english major at heart

Ok so I need to get this off my chest so I hope youre interested in writing, describing things and cultural expectations

So I've started reading Heaven Officials Blessing cuz I like gay and sad people and I love the donghua so much but BOI THAT WOMAN CAN HURT ME SO GOOD >:D

The simplicity of her words may be due to translation, her own style or part of the normal style in China but it contributes a lot to the books in my opinion. It is because of her simplicity that the reader is able to follow her long and detail descriptions.

Now, a lot of writers like to describe things, and MXTX does this a lot. She describes clothes, places, faces, etc when it's necessary for the story. But what I love about her is how she describes certain actions and moments.

There are moments that just cannot be described in 3 sentences, they're too important. The example that I want to show has not left my mind since I read it because it was one of the best slaps in the face ever.

TGCF Vol. 2: (from the free version I could find but it'll do)

"Before he even finished, there was a loud scream, and Hong Hong-er leapt to his feet, running towards Guoshi to headbutt him.

His voice was young and tender, but his screams were filled with rage, as if his heart was filled to the brim with unspeakable pain and anguish, making many of those present shiver. That young child was covered in injuries, yet he tore and hit out at them like a red-eyed rabid dog, violent and aggressive.

The Deputy Guoshi blocked Hong Hong-er and Guoshi backed away, yelling, “MAKE HIM LEAVE THE MOUNTAIN, HURRY! Don’t touch him, I mean it! That fortune is too toxic, don’t touch him!”

The Deputy Guoshi hurriedly moved aside, and Mu Qing and Feng Xin didn’t know whether to act. Seeing that everyone was avoiding him like he was a poisonous snake, that child was

shaken and started thrashing even harder, biting and screaming.

“I’m not! I’M NOT!! I’M NOT!!!!”

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped him around the waist, encircling his small form. A voice came from above his head.

Like look at this! This moment cant be longer than 2 minutes and its described in such way that breaks me. The voice and actions of the little kid (who is kinda doing a bad job saying "hey im not actually dangerous/toxic") get under your skin. The descriptions of his voice, his figure, how he looks yelling, how everyone reacts to this moment, how the MC reacts to this...its all just so amazing. The description grabs you by the ear and it makes you listen, it makes you watch. And thanks to that harrowing description the last bit really gets to the reader. Finally someone bothered to actually listen to the kid and console him. It's so fucking beautiful and it makes me want to eat glass. It really gives you the feelings that an angel really came from above to save a child from the pain in his own heart.

“You’re not. I know you’re not. Don’t cry, now. I know you’re not.”

That young child pressed his lips closed tightly, grabbing on to that pair of snow-white sleeves around his waist with a death grip. He forced himself to hold back for a long time, but in the end, he couldn’t. A stream of tears suddenly rolled down from that round, black eye, and he burst out crying."

And all this emotion, this care for the craft reminded me of something, of someone. The queen the legend Marie Lu.

Although I would say she follows the regular American conventions when it comes to writing (she is american after all), she also takes care in her descriptions. However, in this case I want to talk about how she describes feelings. Marie Lu's characters are not just happy or sad but they have Feelings that just need to be expressed on the page otherwise they will explode. An example:

LEGEND SERIES BOOK 4 REBEL:

I nod again. "I'm sorry. I-"

"I find myself nodding through my tears, wishing I could have turned to him sooner, wishing I could be more like him in every way. "I see them every night," I say to him, my words breaking. "They're there every time I close my eyes, I jump at every sound. I see a soldier in every person standing at a corner. I thought- I thought if I could just drown it all out in the Undercity, if I could replace it with something else so loud and overwhelming, that it might go away- I thought if I could just see the Republic again, return home and understand my past..."

The pain in Daniel's eyes is raw and real. The fear of this was what had kept me silent for so long. He nods once, his hands firmly on my shoulders. "I see them too," he says quietly. "I should have talked to you about my nightmares. I can't expect you to open up to me if I don't do the same."

"Don't be." His eyes soften, and he pulls me into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong."

It is his embrace that finally breaks my last barrier. I cry and cry and cry. I cry because I'd never let myself truly understand my own brother, because I'd never understood myself. I cry for all the lives that our pasts have set on different paths- for June's loss of her family, for Tess's loss of her childhood, for Daniel becoming a parent when he was himself just a boy. I cry because I'm grateful that we still, in spite of everything, have all found each other.

Because sometimes, broken pieces find a way to make a new whole."

NOW WHY AM I BOTHERING WITH ALL OF THIS. A couple of days ago one of my favorite video essayist youtubers said that his best writing advice was to keep things simple, that that was the best way to write.

This is just one of my favorite moments ever. The MC has been bottling things up for the whole book and on that scene he finally let's everything go. His brother also finally let's go his own fear and allows himself to be soft with his brother. The scene, however, would not work as well as it does without the description of the moment right before he breaks down crying. The feelings he can sense from his brother, his own feelings about his own perceived weakness, etc. These descriptions just gives the reader a window to see how much the characters have in their hearts. Again, it's so many emotions they could explode. Like this scene could have cut short in multiple ways and if it was recorded for a TV show it would not feel as long as it does in the book. Lu bothers with these descriptions to remind the reader that the characters have real feelings inside. They twist and change as it would happen to someone real and that's amazing. I love how she does it every time.

So how come these scenes, really description heavy, are this fucking cool and a short and fast description would not have been able to make them justice?

It's because usually when we talk about "keeping things simple" or "show dont tell" we want to apply them for everything. We want to apply them no matter the author, genre, target audience, etc.

This book explains it way better that I ever could but basically, writing tips and advice are based on what we consider normal. Most people consider the american conventions the rule, so when someone doesn't apply them to their writing, the writing is flawed. In the same book it is mentioned how typical Chinese writing prefers telling over showing things. They just love the details and that can be seen in MXTX's writing. She is following conventions that usually would be deemed as "wrong." Going back to Marie Lu, I want to think that she knows a bit about Chinese writing but she also knows that, even if its not the rule, descriptions help her writing alot; which is why she does it.

This is a nice and long way to tell you that when you read something pls do it with an open mind. Please dont have a mental list of what makes good of bad writing ready to point out an author's flaws. You could be discovering a new convention from a different culture, a convention that can be game changing for the book.

[abigail-nicole]

tgcf liveread 10

part ten of my livereading of TGCF, Heaven Official's Blessing, which you should buy officially in english to support gays and great novels. and danmei and chinese gay fantasy. listen when I grew up we didn't even DREAM about having official licensed translations of gay niche content. anyway let's start book Four on today's recap:

"I can’t think of anything this story doesn’t have, except for a functional straight couple" -me, reading Heaven Official's Blessing, April 2020

originally tweeted 4/2/2020

Book 4 starting with a literal Xie Lian Suicide Nightmare!!!! This book is gonna Go Like That Huh!!!!

reading xie lian poor & starving is giving me Anxieties & Flashbacks

& now desperation drinking oh no

I know there are Bai Wuxiang/Xie Lian shippers out there

this is some fucking psychological horror

Absolutely people ship these two, beauty & the beast style, 50 shades style but where she left him after the first book and they didn’t get back together i stopped reading after that

I mean right now bai wuxiang is the most interesting thing happening in xie lian’s beginning of book 4 tragedy life so

Hella TW CW violence on these but OH MY GOD THIS IS SOME HORROR

ahhhhh i cant tweet anything about this chapter it’s really too much. Except for The Birth of a Ghost at the end

I KNOW SOME PEOPLE SHIP THIS

I understand why, & it’s because attraction is a form of power and power is often a root of attraction and clearly there’s some fucked up power dynamics here

IS THIS RUOYE

I feel like mxtx just came to my house and stabbed ME, PERSONALLY,

dianxia about to qi deviate

WHAT THE FJCK EXCUSE ME MOM & DAD

I WASNT PREPARED FOR THIS

WHERES MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SCARF WEAPON PET

oh there it is. Hi ruoye <3<3<3<3<3 i needed a good thing in this narrative rn <3<3<3<3

A) this is Badass I Love someone turning really evil OBVIOUSLY

B) Wei Wuxian?!!!?!!? Is this The Burial Mounds??? What did you do with Xie Lian?!? This isn’t your book

There’s a Lot happening here and I’m kinda.....really into Black Lady Evil Magical Girl Dianxia

Chapter 192 is SO GOOD oh my god

This is an extremely Hua Cheng moment. “You’re already dead”????!!!!!!!!

mxtx, probably: ....too much soft boyfriends....this could use some more body horror

okay I didn’t realize when Xie Lian entered the Kiln that he was ALREADY A GHOST KING

he can’t kill himself & become a ghost and then kill bai wuxiang and emerge from the Kiln as a Ghost King....because he already tried that once

Is it like him from the future or something bc this is getting fucked up???? I mean i trust mxtx’s plotting

nope nope nope

even when this is like Evil Version Xie Lian it’s still incredible & I’m cheering for him to be Really Evil

(i dont want wuming to be hua cheng tho let him have other friends)

Oh that’s the second ascension huh

ascension 1: fighting bridge demon thing. ascension 2: stopping the human face plague. ascension 3: being daddy's favorite

Jun Wu’s like “But please don’t do that though”

okay i got through book 4 and that was a lot more & also shorter than i expected

Now it’s a Crown Prince-off in the Kiln tonight, fine scholars

......um? this got very Mecha huh

CALLED OUT BY MU QING

i’m glad shi qingxuan is back i missed them!!!

There’s a lot more plot-wrap-up than I thought there was gonna be, honestly

This actually makes the most sense as a plot explanation

WAIT DAD NO!!!! JUN WU!!!!!!!!!

just like a real dad, I feel very betrayed

I Still Love Ruoye The Most

This is a very classical Action Movie wrapup so far

Ah yes, Solve The Problem By Injuring Myself: a Classic mxtx protagonist move

another little side dish of horror for our Evil Crown Prince and the human face disease

some hua cheng backstory!!!!!! Crumbs of it!!!! I cling to it!!!!!!!!!!

This novel is so interestingly not like mdzs? Much more comprehensive, longer, bigger scope, more of an adventure story. Also probably a better-written novel, though translation being what it is, i can only speak to plot & planning & pacing

Im trying to think of other books this long and immersive i wanted to eat recently & really only came up with the wheel of time (less like this) & the baroque cycle (more like this, less romance)

XIE LIAN OUT OF THE CLOSET AT LAST!!!!!

I can’t think of anything this story doesn’t have, except for a functional straight couple

I also purposefully didn’t emotionally engage much with book four brcause torture & suicide cw tw real hard & i can read it but....i’m not gonna sit here & live out those scenes in my head like I do for the rest

This ‘bringing your boyfriend home to uncle’ scene with uncle bing like “JUST DON’T DATE THAT HORRIBLY UNFORTUNATE BOY DOWN THE STREET” & Hua Cheng staring him down

IT’S NOT AN AFFAIR THEYRE ENGAGED xie lian just doesn’t realize it yet

Omg the DIANXIA GUNDAM is BACK

wait the heavenly city moves???!!!!! This is suddenly very big budget action movie (or some truly atrocious c-drama SFX)

This is a HELL OF A BOSS FIGHT....or should I say a HEAVEN of a boss fight......

“He owes me money” i died. i love hua cheng

TGCF Goes Gundam continued on tgcf liveread part 11!

[vitos-ordination-song]

Overall assessment of tgcf now that I’ve finished the extra chapters

It was good. One of the better things I’ve gotten into in a while

Did not need to be as long as it is

It’s an extremely weird mix of mythological and self-indulgent fanfic writing style

Xie Lian is the best character. I was really impressed by the risks MTXT took with him—he’s is introduced as an archetypal kind and graceful god but this is shattered and rebuilt over and over in the narrative

Hualian has a great premise but got repetitive. It was really enjoyable at first but after the 500th interaction between them is the same as the others, it wears off. I also felt the writing was at times more geared towards wish fulfillment than what was best for the story

Like with shoujo I’ve read recently, I have an annoyance with stories which can’t just write a mature, adult relationship, but instead stays in this world of tee-heeing about sex and such. Hualian feels like it is at core a mature partnership but then the author keeps dragging it back into tropes to keep fans titillated. Not my thing anymore

More should have been done with Hua Cheng’s character and there’s some really obvious pathways that could have been taken to develop him. At first I was okay with him being a one-track-mind type character but again... it got repetitive and the story lost its teeth as a result. I don’t think that the core of his character—his devotion to Xie Lian—should be changed. But for instance, there was a second when I thought he was going to have to consider the way he blindly took orders as Wuming, but no. NOW, I actually don’t have a problem with him just being an amoral character whose only priority is Xie Lian. But even without disrupting that, you could do a lot of things. What gets in the way of doing any of them is that he always has to come out on top; he’s always right, always saves the day, always sacrifices himself, etc. Now that was fine at first—especially given the way the relationship started—but this story is longer than the Bible! Especially with how much was done with other characters, I was a little disappointed

Even though tgcf did lose my interest sometimes, it always dragged me back. I was impressed by much of the storytelling. There were so many good set ups and pay offs, so many good twists, so many times when my jaw just dropped. I respect just how much work went into making this an intricate, interconnected narrative. The structure of having books 1, 3, and 5 set in the present day while we get 2 and 4 in between means that you keep getting layer upon layer added to the characters and the complexity of the world and it’s just delicious

The tone was all over the place but I never had a feeling of dissonance which is impressive

Xie Lian and Jun Wu are an excellent example of hero/villain foiling. I found the White-Faced Calamity to be a genuinely horrifying threat, plus I’ve always had a thing for whump and villains trying to corrupt heroes. Even though it coulda felt like embarrassing fanfic torture porn, nine times out of ten it didn’t. I really enjoyed going on the psychological journey Xie Lian had to endure, and once the full story behind Jun Wu was revealed, I was immediately drawn in to the parallels between them. I find Jun Wu to be one of the most interesting characters. I think the core of the story is represented in their dynamic—we have a vengeful ghost destroying someone else’s happiness because of what they lost. And in a Taoist twist, the evil ghost is also the great and benevolent ruler. The duality and good-evil themes were one of my favorite parts of the story. I’m always a sucker for a character who struggles to remain themselves and watching Xie Lian develop was... breath-taking in that regard

So many of the side characters were vibrant and memorable. In fact I think all of them? And I love that there’s so much DRAMA!! Gods, ghosts, and humans, getting into all kinds of hatreds and betrayals and loves. It felt a little neat, but I did love reading those final chapters and seeing a resolution to all the relationships that had been introduced. MXTX has an amazing eye for detail and never lets a character go to waste, no matter how small

The Lord Rain Master HAS to be one of my favorites. What I love is that she is peripheral and not involved in all the “important” doings of the plot, and in fact she could basically be cut with no difference to the plot. But her peaceful and serene life is almost a rebuke to the other gods who get into all kinds of petty drama—which often gets people killed. Idk she’s always portrayed in this way that makes you feel like, no matter how down to earth she is, she is a god very much worthy of honor

I really enjoyed the Shi Qingxuan, Shi Wudu, and Black Water revenge plot—it was one of the most suspenseful passages. Shi Qingxuan’s development was great and made them another foil to Xie Lian

The Feng Xin/Xie Lian/Mu Qing relationship makes my heart hurt

Even though I complained about ways Hualian could have been better, it’s still the heart of the story and I’ve been crying like a little bitch about them for the past day so I shouldn’t talk too much

[nyerus]

Hi, i'm kinda new to TGCF and have a few questions. I see people talking all the time about the novel and how they read for example the 3d and 4th book and i only see that vol 1 is released, how did they read the rest? Also when it comes to the novel if you have the english translation of the book where did you get it, because i would really like to get the novel but it is so expensive on amazon for delivery to my country. Does the novel have a lot of dark topics? Also do i need to read the novel before watching the show or will it be to confusing without reading it? Sorry if the question are confusing or too long but i am just really confused about it all.

Hello there Anon, and welcome to your TGCF journey!!

Regarding the official English translation, there is indeed only the first volume out so far, with the second coming later this month. But for some context... in the original webnovel publication, TGCF was split into 5 "Books." Books 2 and 4 were much shorter than the rest and were set entirely in the past, as flashbacks. Meanwhile, books 1, 3, and 5 were set in the present -- but they were much much larger than the other two, with book 3 being especially voluminous. Since it was an online webnovel, no one really cared, as the delineation between books only matters insofar as keeping the past/present timelines clear. The fan translation kept the original chapter numbering and volume lengths as well, for this purpose. But when publishers got the license to do an official translation, they had to re-distribute the chapters in a way that made it possible for the books to be... actually physically held and read. Book 3 is so big that it alone is larger than some textbooks haha, so not that practical to carry around in its original form. So every publisher split some of the books, making them more manageable, and the English publisher -- SevenSeas -- split them into a total of 8 volumes. Inside the books, the chapters are also labelled differently (being generally longer), but denote what webnovel chapter they correspond to for reference.

Everyone who read beyond the first release volume of the English translation has read the old fan translation (or has access to the other international translations of TGCF, which are further along than the English is at the moment). When we refer to "book 3" or "book 4" however, we are 99.9% of the time referring to the original webnovel. This is because every translation of TGCF -- English, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, etc -- have split the original novel differently. Some languages are more compact, and the formatting is different, so they have fewer volumes. Therefore, for simplicity's sake, everyone goes by the original webnovel as a reference point because that will always be universal regardless of where you're reading TGCF from.

(The unfortunate caveat is that the original webnovel on JJWXC is currently inaccessible due to, probably, censorship reasons. We do not know when/if it will be unlocked.)

Many people do have saved copies of the fan translation, but these are now illegal to distribute. However, regardless of where you live, you will most likely be able to either order the book from BookDepository (worldwide delivery), or buy the e-book from Kobo (international e-book distributor and available in *most* countries). Kobo also has regional pricing so it may be much cheaper in your country, as well.

The novel does have a lot of dark topics, so you will have to head in with caution if there are things which could trigger you. It does not shy away from body horror, gore, torture, abuse, suicide, and more. While these things are not presented in an overly gratuitous manner, it absolutely could be upsetting to readers due to the fact that they're sometimes described in depth. That being said, the overall tone of the novel is not meant to be dark and gritty -- it's quite hopeful and romantic. It just has some extremely dark portions that are very important to the plot and characters.

You needn't exactly read the novel before you watch the donghua (animation) or read the manhua (comic) -- but both have rapid beginnings that may leave you a little confused. Naturally, neither are able to go into as much detail as the novel is about anything, but such is the nature of adaptations. Whatever order you decide to enjoy TGCF in, I hope you have a good time!

I hope this cleared up your doubts!

[unforth]

I have started reading Danmei at your recommendation and I am IN SO DEEP. I was wondering if you could make a list of the ones you have read and recommend.

I AM SO GLAD ANON!! Both that I'm the reason you got into danmei, and also that you sent me this ask (I always wish I got more asks like this, lol. <3 )

Better yet, I can answer this pretty easily, because I've already compiled a stupidly complete list of what I've read, am reading, and plan to read, and it's on Tumblr even! And it's recent, so fingers crossed that the links all still work (with stuff going on with JJWXC - the website where most danmei is initially published - a lot of authors have locked, removed, or otherwise made it harder to access their works, so links have been changing often and things that used to be available often aren't).

Anyway, here's my FULL list! As you'll see if you click through, it's actually kinda short? because I'm a slow reader, and these books are so so so SO long. But, I'm plugging away, and reading more all the time (I'm like...almost 20% through The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua rn...).

As to recommendations...so, I've read, start to finish, 10 danmei novels so far, and I haven't yet read something I didn't like. I don't know what you've already read and liked, so it's hard for me to make specific recommendations and/or explain these books in a way that might help you decide which would interest you, but I can say that my personal top 5 are:

1. Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. Fantranslations are no longer available for it, because it's being published by Seven Seas Danmei. I honestly don't even know where to begin with TGCF because I love it just that much. Like, it's my number 1 danmei, and it's ALSO in my top 5 books ever.

2. The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat. This has also been licensed by Seven Seas Danmei; if you're at all interested in reading it grab it now because the main translations are going down at the end of the month. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS AND TAGS 2ha is heavy angst with a happy ending, and all AO3 major archives apply to it, and then some.

3. Thousand Autumns by Meng Xishi. The one I'm hoping Seven Seas will license next. They are such a strange couple with a very unusual dynamic and I love that for them.

4. Qiye by Priest. This is the first book in the 'verse where the c-drama Word of Honor takes place, and is the book I finished most recently, and I really, really liked it. It was especially cool to read it and then watch some Word of Honor again because viewing the show through the lens of what I now know from Qiye is fascinating (I haven't read Tian Ya Ke yet, which is the book Word of Honor is based on, but it's on my list).

5. Golden Stage by Cang Wu Bin Bai. Peach Flower House Publishing announced yesterday that they've licensed this one under the name Golden Terrace, for a November release. I'm not sure yet what that means for the translation I linked, but I'd say, if you want to read a fantranslation this is probably the moment to do it.

Honorable Mention: Daomu Biji by Xu Lei isn't danmei, and it's honestly like...kinda terrible? The plot is so full of holes that it's sometimes incomprehensible, the official English translation is mediocre, the shows range from hilariously bad through genuinely good yet still full of huge plot holes and major plot holes...and yet somehow DMBJ has become one of my fandom happy places? I think it's because it's a trial by fire; the people who can get through the mess of canon have to be chill, there's no way to enjoy it otherwise (and I do, truly, genuinely, absolutely enjoy it) and so it's just...a really nice fandom to be in, and canon has a large cast with a lot of excellent supporting characters who often get the spotlight, which means it's a multishippers delight. But enter at your own risk. You WILL want to throw things at the author, on the regular, lmao.

I hope this helps a little? If I knew more what you'd read and liked, I could probably do a more tailored rec list. <3

[curiosity-killed]

hua cheng, the accidental person

okay this is for @bodhimcbodeface because i can’t shut up and make this concise enough for discord. spoilers ahead yeehaw

this is...not comprehensive. i’ve written 11 tgcf fics and am generally a bit fixated on Hua Cheng as a character so. there’s definitely things missing but i tried to hit the main points that i thought of while writing? also obviously this is just my interpretation! i do not expect anyone else to be like “ah yes curio the sage is so correct i have changed my thinking on this” like go live your life with your own versions of hua cheng! this is just the hill upon which i have firmly planted myself and from which i refuse to be budged. as u do.

anyway, LONG explanation of my very niche and very uh self-indulgent, not-necessarily-support-by-canon hua cheng apologism LMAO

tl;dr: (this is really Too Long i’m sorry) I think Hua Cheng reluctantly becomes a person during his 800 years of searching, starting from a point where he views Xie Lian not as a person but as an immutable god and focus of devotion and developing into a person who doesn’t really acknowledge that he’s a person because realizing that you want to live and do things for yourself is scary and overwhelming at times, and he ultimately falls in love with Xie Lian during the novel itself as he recognizes and is in wonder of the humanity of Xie Lian instead of his divinity or absolute judgment.

POINT 1: Hua Cheng doesn’t actually fall in love with Xie Lian till the ox cart

but curio! you say, “my beloved!” he calls him his beloved! and the land of tender!!

shhh. IMO Hua Cheng is more Wuming than Hua Cheng for those 800 years. By which I mean, for most of that time he’s, at his heart, a nameless soldier trying to find and serve his crown prince/general/god. He still views Xie Lian as this perfect and immaculate figure—a sculpture, a painting, a work of art that is untouchable and immutable. And he’s utterly and wholly devoted to that figure but devotion is not the same as love

So Hua Cheng is searching and trying to serve Dianxia all these years and then His Royal Highness finally ascends and is a god again and Hua Cheng shows up in all his glory to give this power and strength and wealth to serve him and—

and he’s met not by a powerful and reckless martial god or an unstoppable calamity but by a young man dressed in bridal robes who lets Hua Cheng lead him up a darkened mountain, who doesn’t lash out with spiritual energy or a sword but instead, only eventually, with the cursed bandage he was carrying back in the darkest part of his life.

and i think that throws hua cheng. like he’s had this image of his god all these years, this divine painting made over and over and over again—and he carries that belief and devotion with him, but there’s a crack in the sculpture and the stone is starting to flake off to reveal a human underneath it

so he puts on an approachable, malleable, unassuming skin and finds xie lian collecting scraps and being a lil awkward, a lil bumbling, generous and kind — and i think hua cheng, after 800 years of knowing everything, having everything — I think he looks at this discovery with wonder

Bc tbc this does not mean Hua Cheng views them as equals. For him it’s like, dianxia has even more to him, is even more than I knew. He’s seen Xie Lian as the flower crowned martial god in all his glory and as the white-clothed calamity in all his horror — and now here he is, wonderful, multitudinous, and human

Meanwhile I don’t think Hua Cheng even views himself as a person really, much less a human.

also i mean. the internet & allo ppl prove time and time again that you don’t need love for horniness so. land of tender’s right out as proof on that

POINT 2: The Live For Me thing

so obviously and undeniably, using one person as a reason for living is....not healthy. Not going to argue that. but my take on it personally is that, when Hua Cheng’s a kid who really, actively wants to die and sees no reason for living, Xie Lian gives him a reason to keep going. he doesn’t have to live for himself—that’s too much, that’s too big of an ask—but he’s been given a command and purpose by the one person who’s been kind to him/whom he respects. it’s a little like... “My life has no meaning but my cat needs me to feed him and clean his litterbox and so I need to keep getting up and taking care of him even if I don’t see a larger intrinsic purpose to my life.”

and i think like...it’s easy to forget that for all of books 2 & 4, Hua Cheng is young. He doesn’t live past 18—he’s still like...a kid. And that’s not to say that teenagers/young adults can’t make moral and rational decisions but I’m going to be honest, when I was that age I contemplated joining the Air Force because of tuition assistance and the snazzy uniform despite the fact that I was a vocal pacifist and repeatedly got into arguments with teachers about school rules and conservative politics. It’s not like. The Most Rational and Mature Age, lbr. 

so Wuming is absolutely capable of looking at what Xie Lian is doing and being like “hey maybe war crimes aren’t a great idea” but he is young and traumatized and the one person he believes in, the one person who gave him a reason to keep going, is deadset on this task which tbh I don’t think either of them (or...necessarily...the society in which they live) views as war crimes in the modern sense (which isn’t to say that we as readers should view it any more lightly bc i think the narrative directly and firmly contradicts that idea) but as revenge, as an eye-for-an-eye. so, bad, but character-wise, I think it’s more nuanced than we sometimes consider

anyway back to the fixation on xie lian. i stand by the assertion that in those 800 years, hua cheng wasn’t exclusively focused on xie lian. like was finding and serving him his top priority? oh god yes. undeniably. there is no other version of this story. BUT eight hundred years is like....a lot of time. and i think in that time he started doing things for himself, even if under the guise of serving xie lian. hua cheng is curious and adventurous—he clearly likes to learn even if he plays it off as nbd—and i think he starts to realize that about himself in those centuries even if he doesn’t allow himself to acknowledge or consider it. 

POINT 3: Mt. Tong’lu in General

“okay, sure but what about the thousands of sculptures and murals of xie lian, curio. what the fuck about them.”

Yeah. FINE. okay we will DEAL with this. dealing with this is the entire reason i wrote “(like i do) in the tall grass.” 

disclaimer: this is probably not supported by canon! i also. Do Not care. My Ghost King Now.

so I have two general avenues I take with this:

going back to the devotion > love — when Hua Cheng reaches MTL, he’s seen xie lian beaten and cast down. what do gods need to survive? worship! we see throughout how important divine statues/portraits/etc. are throughout canon. in this interpretation, the cave is a concentration of all that worship in an effort to support and serve xie lian and hua cheng doesn’t view himself like...as part of it. the sculptures could have been carved by any hand so long as they are xie lian and the worship and devotion that goes into their making can support and bolster him.

my personal favorite version: amNESIA IN THE CAVES —okay i don’t have the text pulled up rn but y’know how Guoshi says Hua Cheng was almost dispersed, in terrible condition, etc., when he reached Mt. Tong’lu. so if baby boy is in terrible condition, barely hanging on, etc., then my immediate favorite option is that he doesn’t, at that time, have even the...uh threadbare sense of self he did in life/as Wuming and is running on only a vague and urgent sense of Something driving him—something he has to do, someone he has to serve—and in that case, the paintings and sculptures are part of his trying to piece together and process his memories as he can grasp them and figuring out who he is/what his purpose is. Is this canonical? PROBABLY NOT. and yet here i am. firmly planted on this hill

Also w/ MTL I think a thing that’s often skated over is the mortals, creation of E’ming, and his ascension. Which is important from a meta lens of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian vs Jun Wu but that’s not the point of this rambling monstrosity and i’m trying not to get too distracted. ANYWAY I think this is one of those times when Hua Cheng does something that he would probably excuse as like “well His Highness would’ve wanted me to” or “His Highness wouldn’t have been willing to sacrifice the mortals” because Xie Lian is still largely his moral compass—but it also is a peek at the complexity Hua Cheng doesn’t acknowledge within himself.

uh i got distracted anyway and no longer know what point i was making here. Hua Cheng Ascension Important....maybe i will remember this at some other point...

POINT 4: Live For Me (Revisited)

I sort of got distracted writing that point but anyway coming back to it now: I maintain that although Hua Cheng’s primary pursuit is protecting and serving Xie Lian he also does develop/realize his Accidental Personhood throughout his 800 years. this includes a lot of things, as previously stated, that are under the guise of serving Xie Lian (I’d put learning the Banyue tongue, finding out about the Gilded Banquet, collecting swords, beating the 33 officials etc., in this category) and things that maybe could be but...are not really (e.g., his friendship alliance with He Xuan, Paradise Manor* in general, the Gambling Den, learning the Wuyong tongue, bullying Qi Rong*, bullying FengQing*, playing with gold foil palaces, etc.)

(*these are ones that like...could be said to be for Xie Lian and I think he might say are for Xie Lian but also have a personal element that is just for him. 

Like yes Paradise Manor is a lavish and well-stocked residence fit for a god or crown prince...but it’s also a luxurious and extravagant collection of all the things he couldn’t have in life. it’s like giving a kid a credit card with no limit and letting them run wild through uh. Fuck. A Fancy Department Store. 

And sure Qi Rong was awful and turned on Xie Lian in pretty damning ways, but I also genuinely think part of Hua Cheng’s grudge with him is from the childhood abuse and from just...hatred that Qi Rong is around and looks like Xie Lian and gets to be there when Hua Cheng can’t find Xie Lian (which is about  Xie Lian but for Hua Cheng). 

Similarly with FengQing, sure a lot of his hate is for them abandoning Xie Lian—but he doesn’t even know till Book 3 when they abandoned him, and consider how much more he hates Mu Qing, the guy he blames for kicking him out of the army, etc. Some of it is totally “in service” to Xie Lian but some of it is because Hua Cheng carries a grudge like a goddamn pro and finds catharsis in beating the shit out of immortals who bounce back and can’t stop tripping over themselves and onto his blade.)

[khaotungsfirst]

Even if you're not familiar with norse myths I'd say that the Gaiman book is still really enjoyable 😊It's not too heavy and a lot of the stories he chooses are the more well known ones. It's only about 300 pages, so it's not too long either. I think you can get a preview of a few pages through google, so that might be a good way to see if it's something you'd like or not. - CC 🦊

A lot of the Doctor Who books feel like they could be their own little episode, which is nice. It's been a few years since I read them but I remember enjoying The Stone Rose, The Stealers of Dreams, Invaders from Mars and The Glamour Chase. There's also a huge range of audiobooks where the actors have returned to their old roles. Recently this year it was announced that Christopher Eccleston was coming back to work on some Ninth Doctor audiobooks 😱- CC 🦊

Also, if you're interested in any of the older Doctors, I'd highly suggest looking into Eighth Doctor audiobooks! The actor sadly only got one really odd 90's movie and a short for the 50th to act the role on film, so the audiobooks really let the character shine and give him a chance. And some sci-fi I can recommend are Aurora Rising, There Will Come Soft Rains, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. There's also Jurassic Park but is it sci-fi? Is it horror? Either way there's dinosaurs! - CC 🦊

Omg no but I totally get how you feel with horror! I'm really fussy with the genre myself since I often get bored or annoyed with it if it's not done right 🤣I usually read before bed so that's probably not a good decision on my part either! Were there any books you've read this year that you've enjoyed a lot? Any potential new favourites? ❤️- CC 🦊

I would absolutely love to buddy watch and/or read TGCF with you! That sounds like it would be awesome ❤️We could yell at each other as we follow it that way! And omg, Brooklyn 99 and Queer Eye are amazing! I love Jonathan Van Ness, he's always so happy and positive all the time. A lot of my favourite / comfort shows right now are The Dragon Prince, The Mandalorian, RuPaul's Drag Race, New Legends of Monkey and His Dark Materials. - CC 🦊

I'll stop spamming your inbox after this, but since I haven't asked you an MDZS related question for a little while I figured I'd ask you one today! I think I can guess who your favourite member of the cast might be, but what is it about it them that you admire? Always love an opportunity to see people's excitement over their favs! 😊- CC 🦊

I looked at the preview for Norse Mythology and it actually sounds so interesting!! But I fear that I will imagine the characters as they are in the Marvel Universe 😅 Aaahhh it’s always nice to get some more Ninth Doctor!! I should probably check out the audiobooks if the actors are reprising their roles for them but I gotta check where I can download English audiobooks. And can you believe I never watched the original Jurrassic Park movies? 😬 I should probably get around to that... 

Yeah, some horror books sound really intriguing but then I look at my massive TBR/wishlist and think to myself... well I rather spend my money on this other book that I’ve wanted for 3 months now so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Honestly, this year wasn’t as good of a reading year as I’d hoped it would be. But some books I enjoyed were The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James (YA Sci-Fi), The Sinclair’s Mysteries Series (Middlegrade Historical Mystery), Eight Detectives (Adult Mystery) and Call Down The Hawk (YA Urban Fantasy). What about your reading year?

YES! omg let’s do it!! But let’s wait until you can reveal yourself so we can scream at each other in DMs 😅 JVN is a national treasure, I love him!! But tbh I love all of them! 💕 I just googled New Legend of Monkey bc I’ve never heard of it and the fact it’s a Aussie/NZ production based on a Japanese show which in turn is based on a Chinese novel.. love it! And it even is on german netflix!

Hahaha yeah I guess my love for Yibo is not a secret 😂  But I do love the other cast members as well!! (Fun fact: before I started watching cql I thought wwx was more attractive but I quickly learned my lesson and fell HARD for lwj and in turn yibo askdjgffdk) Yibo is just.... aaaaaahhhhhhhh I just love him so much, your honor!! He’s a classic case of do I want to marry you or be you?? Like his gender presentation??? HELLOOOO??? I want that!! And when he wears earrings and has slightly longer hair (and ideally wears makeup but that’s optional he looks fantastic without it as well) I! WANT! TO! DIEEEEEE!!! Then there’s the fact he’s a lil gremlin boy and he basically hates us askdjgksdfghkdf like I feel like he’s so done with the entertainment industry/the fanservice that’s expected of him and honestly, that’s valid and relatable. I also don’t want to do the things I’m supposed to do for work even though I chose this job 😂 Like that live where he was supposed to talk to his fans for an hour and he was just like uuugghhh how do ppl talk for an hour, this is exhausting askdjghkdf SAME!! And I feel like this makes him seem more grounded (though obv I don’t know him so who knows what he’s really like) He isn’t forcing a smile for the cameras because he is supposed to. If he doesn’t want to smile he won’t and I gotta respect that! Then there’s the fact that he’s so multitalented! Like is there anything he CAN’T do????? Act, dance, sing, motorcycle, skate, etc. the list goes on! And he’s such an amazing dancer, and I dance hiphop myself so I’m very !!!!!! about it all. I REALLY want to get dance lessons from him like he’d probably scream at me to do better and I’d thank him for it aksdhgdkfjg omg I gushed way too much about yibo ok I’m gonna go now. Who’s your fave, CC?