#Heaven official's blessing volume 1 (Again)

[lttawnymadison]

TGCF Revised Version Afterword by MXTX

Since I kept seeing snippets of this, I wanted to read the whole thing for myself. I'd already bought the book on JJWXC and did an MTL for this. It's so wonderful that she's back and sharing new things and that the revised is finally done! - Tawny --------------------------------------------- The author has something to say:

Seeing the small red clay stove again.

———— Afterword of "Heaven Official's Blessing" 2022

■ Finally done!

Long time no see! It's another afterword starting with "finally." Without further ado, seasoned readers would know that I make substantial revisions. For instance, scenes like the Bai Feng Mountain Hunt and the ending recognition of Sizhui in the serial version of "Mo Dao Zu Shi" were not originally there.

The revisions in "Heaven Official's Blessing" are the most extensive of all my works. It was a huge project, as it is also the longest in terms of length, serialized over eight months. Due to poor health and other reasons, the revision process was interrupted for a long time before I picked it up again, and it sporadically took about five to six months over several years.

In the era of web novels, there are endless new entertainments, and honestly, not many people re-read a story. Plus, some problems in the serialized version are structural and can't be changed, but I still tried my best to address my regrets. After all, when I was serializing it, I was almost always in a feverish and sick state, barely pushing through. Additionally, I often enjoy comparing different versions of my favorite authors' works back and forth, finding pleasure in the process. So, for readers, discovering "Wow, this part has changed!" is like starting a new journey with Easter eggs in a second round.

■ The new revised version includes about 100,000 words of new content!

These 100k words are mainly concentrated in the latter half of Volume 1 and Volume 3, but there are plenty scattered throughout the text. For example, I fulfilled a promise to A-Hua, giving him several new outfits. Seeing A-Hua dressed beautifully in a new hairstyle to meet his gege made me happy.

In terms of the intensity of revisions, personally, I feel it goes like this:

Volume 1 and Volume 2 > Volume 3 > Volume 5 > Volume 4.

Additionally, the new version cuts some redundant words and plots that weren't very meaningful. However, I tried to keep all the original interactions between Hua Lian as complete as possible. If some minor interactions are missing, they weren't deleted but moved around.

■ One day, I suddenly dug out something.

An antique from 2017, a folder called "Heaven Official's Blessing Setting Collection."

Curiously, I opened it and read with interest.

● Comparing the original setting outline and the main text, the highest fidelity is in the main storyline between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.

A-Hua, restored at a ratio of 1:100.

Hua's character setting is the most detailed, and virtually every point made it into the main text, including details like "ghosts don't like the sun, so Hua Cheng sometimes drapes a red cloth over his head"...

Points not used, listed a few:

As a child:

· After being saved from falling off a city wall, he foolishly followed a parade over and over again, grabbing people to ask, "Who is that? Who is that person?" People told him, "That's the royal son, the future Celestial God, the most outstanding Crown Prince of Xianle Nation ever!"

(This point couldn't be used because in the text A-Hua was held in the Crown Prince's arms after being saved)

· At home, he was often punished to stand or kneel, not given food, and wore old clothes, accused of stealing money. Whenever he argued with his family, he would stubbornly sleep in the Prince's temple overnight.

· Went to Mount Tai Cang to volunteer sweeping red leaves at Huangji Observatory, just to sneak peeks at his future wife happily swinging.

After becoming the ghost king:

· One of his hobbies is buying and building houses everywhere.

· Very protective of his leather boots, would (badly) polish them until they shone.

· To other devout followers of Xie Lian, he said: "You have good taste."

· Secretly prepared many betrothal gifts for his beloved god, wanting to marry him!

The character setting of Xie Lian as a teacher in the serialized version compared to the initial draft, the serialized text subtly differs. The initial draft was more... exquisite and elegant, very serious. The serialized text is more... humorous. I think perhaps because some plot points were tragic, Xie Lian thought he should be happier to make the readers more relaxed, so he drove me to adjust his mental state! But due to the spiritual oppression at that time, the character's depth was not enough, while in the new revised version, I hope he can show a more self-content state on the same core basis.

Excerpts from the unused original setting:

· Super easy-going. Easy-going means: if given fifty bucks, he would happily dress in drag and dance. Accepts haggling. Thirty bucks works. Twenty bucks too!

· The observatory is small, the house is broken, wants to grow flowers. Leaks during rain, so he uses a bucket to catch rainwater.

· Because he can't afford a caretaker, he cleans himself, and also feeds chickens. Chickens eat flowers. Keeps a cat.

· Completely engrossed in discussing serious matters, he unknowingly finished all the broken sweet dumplings!

● Water, Earth, Wind original setting:

The highest fidelity is the main line between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, followed by the Water, Earth, Wind subplot.

The main conflict hasn't changed. Just... how could the original setting of Water, Earth, Wind be so dark and terrifying!

The character morals in the main text improved a lot, otherwise, the original Black Water would be sheer scheming + murderous! The ending for the Wind Master would have been more tragic.

The Venerable of Empty Words suddenly became an improvised character. It seemed like an ancient fable-like monster, making the main text more interesting than the original setting.

Overall, the formal version is a bit better written than the original draft.

● The unfortunate life of Lang Ying:

Lang Ying? Is there such a character? I don't remember!

Ah? It seems there was such a person, but I don't remember any of his plotlines.

This is most people's feeling towards the character of Lang Ying. It's not a delusion because he barely had any significant plot. In fact, any valuable scenes could have been replaced equivalently, so in the new revised version, I deleted this character.

But, in the 2017 setting collection, I suddenly found that I had actually opened a separate document for Lang Ying, and his role was defined as a "growing-type BOSS!"

I was silent.

And immediately opened the document, curious about my initial setting. A "growing-type BOSS," how did he become someone whose deletion went unnoticed...? (I even don't know how to address him!)

Who knows, perhaps out of excitement, I accidentally pressed the wrong shortcut, and somehow it became irreversible, leaving only an empty document for me to stare in disbelief. The once "growing-type BOSS" has now forever become a mystery!

This is the unfortunate life of the deleted Lang Ying.

· There was another document in the setting collection called "Swordsmith." I opened the document and read it with interest.

I was shocked. Because I completely forgot I had conceived this story. Why didn't I write it?!

Darn.

I know why I didn't write it. This story... it had no ending!

——————— Thus, the magical glimpse into the "Heaven Official's Blessing Setting Collection" concludes!

■ I like men with stories!

Maybe because I watched an outstanding work as a child. It was a memoir, the protagonist in the biography was gentle and affable, and the protagonist in the memories was cold and ruthless. The story was scattered with the poignant fragrance of white plum blossoms amidst bloody and stormy circumstances.

This almost perfect work deeply influenced my aesthetics, leading me to be most interested in the memory parts of characters in various works. Although many viewers prefer the present scenes, often asking when the memories will end, I actually find these intense and painful memories to be the most fascinating!

A story is the history of a character, as well as the key to their personality. A person with a story stands before me like a puzzle. The way to solve this puzzle is to understand their story. Because the biography makes one curious to know more about a character they like, loving them more now because of their past. When serializing "Heaven Official," my greatest pain initially was telling myself, "This time I don't want to write a memory slaughter," deliberately trying to avoid a structure similar to previous works, yet I still hadn't found a better way to express it, resulting in my deep dissatisfaction with the later part of Volume 1. I was also hesitant to fully commit to the memory scenes in Volume 2, and with the heavy mental burden, this part was very painful to write. When revising, looking at Volume 2 was almost unbearable, because I'm the type of person who, as a child, would immediately switch channels when a TV show's protagonist was about to be wrongfully accused or embarrassed. I couldn't help but knock on a friend's door and ask:

Me: Was the author suffering some kind of mental trauma at the time? This negative energy is too horrifying, the protagonist is so pitiful, I really admire anyone who could read through Volume 2 completely.

Friend: Do you even have the right to say that?

But the memory slaughter in Volume 4 was much freer, written in one breath, so the revisions for this volume were also the least.

So, will you still write large segments of memory slaughter?

Um, well, we'll see, haha, hehe...

■ Closing Remarks:

Lastly, I'll address the question some asked me, "Will the new revised 'Heaven Official's Blessing' be more torturous?"

Me: You're talking nonsense. 'Heaven Official's Blessing' is a sweet pampering story, thank you!

Acknowledgments:

Shi Nai'an wrote in the preface to "Water Margin": "On snowy nights, about five or six people listen to my storytelling; on rainy days, about seven or eight; on bright and sunny days, about ten. I read, everyone listens, and we are all happy, with no other thoughts." When I read this as a young person, I was delighted. What divine days! Writing first to entertain oneself, then to entertain others. Self-expression and self-acceptance are certainly primary, but the affection of others is also a significant positive feedback. Thus, first, I thank the steadfast readers who have accompanied me all this time. I've thought about just walking away amidst the noisy disputes; abandoning the account amidst the tumultuous world! It seems not bad. But looking back, I can't bear to leave some truly sincere readers.

I've had authors I liked disappear from the internet, and I always feel like a part of my youth has vanished, a feeling quite distressing, reminiscent of overly grand and harsh things like the tears of the era or the torrent of history. So, I want to accompany my readers as long as possible, hoping that the day of parting comes later. Perhaps I'm not good enough now, but I will strive to be better in the future. Or perhaps you've never truly understood what kind of person I am, or even completely misunderstood me, but as long as you genuinely like my stories, we can sit down and chat.

And, I must mention my friends, who can be described as having the courage of a hero. Long time no see, Teacher Changyang's illustrations are still as beautiful as those of a celestial being, I hope Teacher CAS can go to bed earlier and worry less, and Teacher Kuohao, who despite a heavy workload, still fully honored our agreement. The "Heaven Official's Blessing" radio drama is really fantastic! It reminded me of the original intention of writing this story, and I was very moved. If it weren't for the silent companionship and efforts of these old friends, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu might have stopped writing back in 2016, disappearing from the world of martial arts, and thus, "Heaven Official's Blessing" would not have been born. I look forward to retracing the paths we once walked together when gathering ideas. And many friends who reached out to help and encourage me, thank you for accompanying me through the snowy nights.

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hob #heaven official's blessing #墨香铜臭 #mxtx #mo xiang tong xiu #天官赐福 #tgcf revised version #mine

[malsperanza]

Rereading Heaven Official's Blessing - spoilers here

I love rereading books, especially for the first time, when I see so many connections I missed on the first read. The first time you read a book, you're intent on discovering what happens next, worrying about the characters, and skipping past things you don't fully understand.

The first reread is all about looking at the structure, the patterns, the way things unfold, and learning more about character motivations. MXTX is a master at the meta, and she loves to seed innumerable hints and clues in her books, knowing they will not mean anything until the second reading. Plus, she lies like a rug and leaves out key info. This makes a first reread loads of fun.

Seven Seas edition, volume 1, p. 369:

At the end of the Banyue arc Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are finally alone in Puqi Shrine, and Xie Lian has let HC know that he knows who he is. Things are peaceful, and we finally get a sweet moment of flirting - which we have been hoping for through the whole volume. So is it any wonder that we completely miss the massive foreshadowing?

Xie Lian is unburdening some of his most private thoughts, memories of the past, and feelings about his history to this man he has just met. And HC is coming close to declaring why he is XL's devotee.

After a while, San Lang said quietly, "Something like saving the common people, it really doesn't matter how you do it. But, although brave, it's foolish." "Yeah," Xie Lian agreed. Hua Cheng continued, "Although foolish, it's brave." "..." "Xie Lian grinned. "Thanks." "You're welcome," Hua Cheng said. The two stared at the holey ceiling of Puqi Shrine in amiable silence, and Hua Cheng spoke up again after a while. "You know, Your Highness, we've only known each other for a few days. Is it all right for you to say so much to me?" "Well," Xie Lian huffed, "what's the problem? Whatever. Those who have known each other for decades can become strangers in a day. We met by chance, and we may part by chance. If we like each other, then we shall continue to meet; if we don't, then we shall part. At the end of the day, there's no banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end."

And now vol. 8, p. 118:

Xie Lian could no longer hold back the tears in his eyes, and they began to pour. As if he were hanging on to the last thread of his life, he pleaded, "You said ... you would never leave me." But Hua Cheng replied, "There is no banquet in this world that doesn't come to an end."

MXTX, you absolute fucking sadist.

The entirety of Xie Lian's little lighthearted comment, "Those who have known each other for decades can become strangers in a day. We met by chance, and we may part by chance" is the whole backstory of who HC is and is the absolutely most incorrect thing XL has ever said.

The space between vol. 1 and vol. 8 is so vast that there's no way to remember that HC is quoting XL when he is dying, which means that MXTX has built the necessity to reread into the book.

I'm also continuing to notice how often Hua Cheng is described as smiling, laughing, chuckling, snickering. If Xie Lian ever should happen to wonder whether he should laugh or cry, Hua Cheng has the answer.

#Xie Lian #Hua Cheng #heaven official's blessing #tgcf #MXTX meta #MXTX is a sadist #Laugh or cry

[thenanamisimp]

Danmei and MXTX novels

Would you look at that, another post that's not about anime? WILD. It is about MXTX novels though so the hyperfixations continue. I'm actually in the process of planning a very lengthy analysis of all three of her series but this is a warning, don't expect too much. I was never good at those in school plus it's been almost 7 years since I've last written something like that but I feel so passionate about her works that I really wanna try to share what I thought about the novels. Nevertheless, this isn't actually those analysis posts since those are gonna be separate and will probably be written after I re-read each series. However, since I'm actually finally fully done reading all her series - including the extra side chapters - I wanted to quickly share some of my opinions and how I feel after finishing all 18 of the books.

This goes without saying but just in case - SPOILER WARNING for Heaven Official's Blessing, The grandmaster of demonic cultivation and The scum villain's self saving system novels.

First off, if you haven't read any of MXTX's work before, prepare for trauma and tragedy. Most of her characters are either deeply traumatised already or in the process of. I will always encourage people to read content warnings before reading her books.

Starting off with my favourite - TGCF or Tian Guan Ci Fu (aka Heaven Official's Blessing). This story means a lot to me. I got introduced to TGCF through the donghua before I even knew it was queer fiction and even with censorship, the closet is made of fucking GLASS so I had to look for the source material. Honestly it took me a while to commit to reading the whole series as I've been struggling to pick up books for years now but TGCF actually got me back into reading (I think in total it took me about 8 days to read all 8 volumes). More than just the story telling being good, I got so incredibly attached to every single character (except Jun Wu, he can eat shit - tho the fact I'm even saying this speaks volumes about how well MXTX can write characters. It takes a lot for me to hate a character this much).

Taking place in a beautiful fantasy world, we follow Xie Lian and Hua Cheng through tragic traumatic past and present and we learn of the horrible truths about the lives of immortal beings. We also see two idiots in love take their sweet ass time to confess. I love me a good slow burn full of longing and pining. I eat that shit UP every time and MXTX gave it to me with every single one of her series.

TGCF for me was a journey full of kicking my feet at fluff, second hand embarrassment (because xl I stg, what do you MEAN you were taught how to resist the advances of women but not how to resist hot men you gay lil shit the closet is made of glass) and honestly, lots of crying. The hundred stabs incident, ruoye's creation and hcg's last death made me sob and scream (no exaggeration, I was stomping around my room, crying and yelling GIVE HIM BACK RIGHT NOW).

Also, in a not so unpopular opinion (I think?), Pei Ming is my fave because 1) he's the no.1 Hualian shipper - check the whole Mt Tunglu adventure for proof and also 2) he's just a lil slut with a big heart. I could seriously talk about him forever because I went from hating him after he tried to throw the blame for the Banyue Pass incident on Xie Lian, to loving him after I realised that everything he does, he does because he is truly just a kind man who loves a good fight. He's so silly! Just a lil guy! Go Pei Ming go!

Fuck you Jun Wu. Again. (I hate him just as much as I hate Mahito. Maybe a little less. I really hate Mahito).

Moving on to my second favourite (but honestly it's such a close one), MDZS or Mo Dao Zu Shi (The grandmaster of demonic cultivation). Take a wild guess about how I got introduced to it... Fandom of course, because very few people talk about TGCF online without mentioning MDZS so I just had to give it a chance.

The great grandmaster of demonic cultivation has been dead for a while but when he gets gifted a new body through a not so well known demonic ritual, he runs into an old acquaintance. We learn about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's past and current world of cultivation and hear stories about messy betrayals and conspiracies. Aaaand we find out about some more trauma and tragedy because is it really an MXTX novel without it?

And talk about a rollercoaster because (and please don't hate me for this) I found Wei Wuxian annoying initially.... But it's okay now because I kin him so go figure. Tho I actually kin only his adult self, I was a very introverted and rule abiding teenager, a lil more like Lan Wangji. In any case, wwx is the same stupid chaotic bisexual that I am and he is babygurl. Yeah and what if he murdered 3000 people? It was self defense. THEY ATTACKED FIRST. Your honour, he did nothing wrong and he does not deserve to be punished!

On a serious note, MDZS explores so many themes that are personally important to me, my favourite being the power dynamics of the world. It’s truly moving that even with all the pain Wei Wuxian went through, how far in his cultivation and how powerful he got, he still couldn't protect those he loved (until Lan Wangji of course because Wangxian is perfect together and they always protect and defend each other. Wangxian my beloved). While it might be a stretch for some, it really reminded me of how powerless we are in the world. People aim to educate themselves and go on to do whatever they can to better the world in their own way and yet, it really feels like nothing’s improving sometimes. I could talk about this for hours but maybe I’ll leave that for another time and another analysis post since this is supposed to be a shorter one (lmao)

Last but not least, RZFZX or Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (honestly this one I use the english name for because I can’t pronounce the chinese as much as I try - The scum villain's self saving system or Svsss). This one I actually kinda struggled with - first of all because WHY BUGS MXTX. Not much bothers me in fiction but BUGS? Too far. Heads with spider legs? Raw flesh with maggots? Blood mites? I was out (for about half an hour and then I kept reading). Please note that it's not the raw flesh that bothered me, it was the fucking maggots. I can read about graphic murder, creepy hauntings, torture and many more but as soon as there are bugs? Nope! I’m done. People have phobias and that’s mine I guess. Enough ranting about bugs!

The story follows Shen Qingqiu, the scum villain of the hit web novel Proud Immortal Demon's Way (or PIDW for short, as it's referred to in Svsss) who is actually one of the original readers - and haters - of PIDW, who transmigrates into the book in order to fix the plot holes left by the original author. With his guide “the system” he does his best to lead the male lead of PIDW, Luo Binghe, down a better path than in the original story.

Svsss employs a comedic way of storytelling, with our protagonist being omniscient, it allows for the narration to be sarcastic and poke fun at a lot of moments that are cliche or badly written, as interpreted by sqq. Honestly, this is just a personal preference but I favour the more serious storytelling way of MDZS and TGCF (give me hurt until the very end when the main characters get together and then give me comfort).

To me, Svsss is a lot harder to analyse as a lot of its themes are unfamiliar to me, especially considering I’m the furthest from having any sort of humanitarian education (I have 2 engineering degrees). Using a story within a story, MXTX is able to deliver two main overarching themes; one about abuse and its results through Luo Binghe as well as one about the relationship of author and their readers, the feeling of being trapped by the readers' opinions and wanting your story to be liked through Shang Qinghua (to be honest, I hadn’t really picked up on this one until I saw discussion about this in the fandom).

If I'm being completely honest, I don't think I grasped this series as well as the other ones and I'm finding it hard to digest lbg and sqq's relationship. I'm unsure as to what it is that's holding me back from loving them as much as Hualian and Wangxian. I do tend to prefer tropes like theirs more than the whole "had to convince him to date me" thing which is what Bingqiu's relationship seemed like to me up until the end of volume 3. It’s also why I'm glad I actually followed through and finished the extras in volume 4 (I was really tempted to stop reading once I finished volume 3 not gonna lie). I believe those to be integral to understanding sqq's feelings towards lbh and while I understand that sqq did actually love lbh from the beginning (denial is a river in egypt and the gloset is made of glass - what the fuck is with MXTX's bottoms and the damn glass closet), I struggled to see the tipping point of where he actually understood his own feelings and what was going on in his head and that he was actually in love with lbh. Which is why I think to really understand Svsss, I would seriously need to reread it.

I also would love to eventually talk about queerness in MXTX's work because in each book, sexuality and queerness is explored and examined in so many different ways. As a queer person myself, it fascinates me as I can relate to so much of it. To be honest, I think I could write a short thesis on just this.

Honestly, while I'm very passionate about my favourite pieces of media (if you've heard me talk about any of my top 5 anime you'll understand what I mean), there hasn't been a lot of things outside JJK and MXTX's novels that have made me wanna dive deep into analysing every single detail. It genuinely makes me feel like I'm gonna implode sometimes. These 3 series have seriously reignited my love for reading. I was shown that a good book - in my opinion of course - doesn't need to avoid difficult topics. It simply needs to use them well as a means of delivering a message and a story, rather than them being included just to be included. They also reminded me that I love queer fiction and I need to read more.

I actually would really like to read Erha (or 2ha or The husky and his white cat shizun) but I've read the content warnings and I'm ~~apprehensive~~. While not a lot of things bother me, I'm not sure I want to read about that stuff (please look at the content warnings of this book, or any piece of media in that matter, especially if you have topics that easily bother or trigger you). Remember, it's our responsibility as readers/consumers to look out for ourselves first!

Please recommend any good danmei (other than MXTX) and possibly include links where they can be read! I would also highly appreciate recommendations for some good wlw fantasy fiction as I really would love to read some wlw novels - or even anime/movies/webtoons/manga. Just in desperate need of quality wlw content.

Also while I said I'd keep it short, it seems I ended up writing over 2000 words…

PS. I proofread this about 5 times and during one of them my file crashed, so if there's any mistakes or if I’m not making sense somewhere, blame my deep-fried brain, thanks

Thanks for reading my novel ramble! Enjoy reading :)

theNanamiSimp

#i'm adding a lot of tags because i put a lot of effort into this post actually and i want people to see it #danmei #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #scum villain's self saving system #scum villain #mxtx #mo xiang tong xiu #hualian #hua cheng #xie lian #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #bingqiu #luo binghe #shen qingqiu

[witchcraftingboop]

Would you please recommend mangas?

I'm not gonna lie to you, baby, my tastes are trash. You can call me the garbage man because bish I'm swimming in that shit, scooping it all up and dragging it back to my lil apt-- or maybe the Grinch... oh well!

Anywhoville, here are the mangas I've read physical copies of since this all started back on April 13th:

Fangs by Billy B-something - BL - I like their take on modern vampires. Could do without the crazy dude randomly (coincidentally) escaping from jail

Kaiju Girl Caramelize by someone - Straight, Romcom (wtvr that is in manga genres), takes place in a high school - hilarious and I love it

SpyxFamily also by someone - Idk what genre this is honestly but it's funny and good and I love it

Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle - I have all 20 volumes because it is just a cute lil fun lil read

So I'm A Spider, So What - Okay, does the mc grind like crazy to level up? Yes but it's also hilarious and a lovely lil isekai about how a high schooler is reborn as a weak bb spider and becomes super op and challenges gods and demon lords ... 10/10, have every volume out rn and love it

Heaven Official's Blessing (light novels) - BL, Danmei - Listen. I love these lil fucks and I love how these are written -> Currently on book 2/5 in my lil shelf, six comes out in Sept I think

Given - BL - It's an okay series. I read it all (that's out), and it is amusing while reading, but ultimately probably won't read again

Fruits Basket - grew up on it, love it

Chobits - unfortunately grew up on it (why do I not remember how sexual this shit was like jfc did that throw me for a Loop lmao)

Savior's Book Cafe Story In Another World - Isekai (of a 30yo, not a teen for once), romance -- I adore this lil series. It's a cozy lil hug in a book

Uzumaki by Junji Ito - Horror - classic, love his art style and story telling, I don't find horror manga or anime scary though so I read it more like comedy tbh

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas - Tragedy(?), Romance(?), set in high school - I went into this expecting and knowing nothing and I enjoyed it a lot

A list of BL I read and enjoyed: I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love, There Are Things I Can't Tell You(💜), Sotus vol 1, Killing Stalking (??? is it BL idk,, it's B), Midnight Rain, The Flower That Seems To Truly Dance, Loved Circus, The Snake Who Loved A Sparrow (look out for anatomy oddities), Sasaki & Miyano, Secret XXX, Therapy Game

The Witch & The Beast

A Silent Voice

Fire Force, omnibus 1 (dunno about later ones cause this is the only series I didn't just buy complete)

My next reads are gonna be the series I just bought, so Demon Slayer, Ouran Host Club (again, childhood fave), Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Re, & Choujin X.

After that, the next batch'll likely be: Bofuri, Arifureta, & Overlord (all isekai - or in Bofuri's case video game life). Which I can recommend watching in the anime forms as well.

But yeah those are pretty much all the series I like that I can name off the top of my hear rn. There are definitely quite a bunch I'm forgetting, but I cannot be bothered because this lil answer has already gone on for a long time and been interrupted 4+ times by my Boss' after hours inquiries into his own goddamn schedule I'm going to beat this man with a sandal

But yeah that's it, anon, pillage through my wares as you please!

#boop's asks #manga reccs #bl and romance are my comfort reads obviously #I go through phases of reading just one primary genre at a time #rn we're shifting gear to more sienen stuff I think

[anne-bsd-bibliophile]

This video is so beautiful! I love this instrumental version of "One Flower, One Sword."

I wish I had time to rewatch season 1 and reread all the books before October 18! Heaven Official's Blessing is a story I wish I could forget so I could experience reading it for the first time again. But every time I read one of the volumes or watch the donghua I love it more and more.

#heaven official's blessing #tgcf #2nd anniversary special video #donghua #Youtube

[trans-ace-lee]

About Me

Hello! You can call me Jin. I write sfw tickle scenarios, fanfics, and headcanons but I also post some nsfw nonsexual irl content which will be tagged nsfw tickles, so I ask that minors filter out the nsfw tickles tag. Feel free to send me asks, headcanons, questions, and dms.

As my username suggests I am a lee, and I am open to teases as long as they are nonsexual since I am extremely acearo (asexual and aromantic) and sex repulsed. If you send me sexual asks or dms, consider yourself blocked.

In addition I am transmasc, polyam, queer, and poc so I also ask you do not follow me if you have an issue with the aforementioned information including me being acearo.

Possible trigger warnings: mentions of eating disorders, self harm, suicidal thoughts plus general mental health issues

Fandom List: Fandoms that I will not write fics for will be marked with a *. All written work will be tagged Jin writes, scenarios will be tagged Jin's scenario writing, fanfics will be tagged Jin's fics, and headcanons will be tagged, you guessed it, Jin's headcanons.

My masterlist

Anime and Manga-

Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba (finished manga)

Haikyuu (finished manga)

Bnha/Mha (caught up to the reveal of the traitor in the manga chapter 372)

Chainsaw Man (caught up on the anime, up to chapter 93 of the manga)

Mob Psycho 100 (anime only)

Fullmetal Alchemist (finished manga)

BSD/Bungou Stray Dogs (season 1 only)

Kuroko no Basuke/Kuroko's Basketball (I've watched/read everything up to the movie)

Spy x Family (mostly caught up on manga)

Jujutsu Kaisen/JJK (anime only but I plan on reading the manga at some point)

Given (caught up on written chapters)

Sk8 the Infinity/Sk8

Sasaki and Miyano (caught up on written chapters)

Hirano to Kagiura (caught up on written chapters)

Seaside Stranger (caught up on written chapters)

Yuri on Ice

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

Beastars (season 1 only)

Classmates/Doukyuusei

Mashle: Magic and Muscles

Assassination Classroom*

Black Butler*

Death Note

Ouran High School Host Club (anime only)

Kdramas and Manhwa-

Cinderella and Four Knights

BJ Alex (finished)

Painter of the Night

Full Volume

Strong Girl Do Bong Soon

Squid Game*

Cdramas and Donghua-

The Untamed/MDZS/Mo Dao Zu Shi

Scum Villains Self Saving System

Heaven Official's Blessing/TGCF/Tian Guan Ci Fu (season 1/finished the novel)

Thai BL Dramas-

TharnType (season 1 only)

Until We Meet Again

Cartoons/Comics/TV Shows/Webtoon-

Gravity Falls* (I plan on rewatching at some point but I'm not familiar enough with it currently to write a full fic)

Heartstopper (up to date on webtoon and netflix series)

Avatar the Last Airbender*

Doctor Who (10th-12th Doctor)*

BBC Sherlock*

Kpop*- I do not write about real people but I will discuss cute moments and general stuff about the groups and music

Ateez

Stray Kids

Monsta X

Seventeen

TXT

Oneus

Literature*- I won't write fics for most literature I read bc I read a ton since I'm an English major, so I haven't touched most of these series to be able to do them justice in a fic

Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus

Harry Potter

The Maze Runner

Note: Ask me about classical literature

#tickle community #sfw tickle community

[gautierprotectionsquad]

All the novels I finished reading this year (as of dec 18)

(I'm only using 1 volume to represent a whole series so i finished all 5 books in Heaven Official's Blessing and all volumes of ORV)

I read far less books than I typically do. I really struggled with completing any book I picked up but I think I'm back in the groove again. I mostly read comics and fanfiction (ace attorney and batman fics specifically).

#romanticsap #books #reading #orv #heaven official's blessing #the gravedigger's son #awtwb #grishaverse #my year in review (book edition)

[ao3feed-fengqing]

A storm a spire a sanctum

by HikariNoHimeWriter “I... I need to go,” he says, the broken voice of a broken god. “Dianxia—” “Feng Xin,” Xie Lian cuts him. “I am fine.” He’s not. Will he ever be fine again? “My powers have not diminished. I can take care of myself.” He swallows. It tastes like bile. Xie Lian looks down at his own robes. There’s no stain anywhere. He didn’t throw up again. Good. “I just need time to think.” “XianLe,” Jun Wu calls again. His voice is gentle yet strong, dominating yet soft. “The common people aren’t merciful. They won’t hesitate in dragging you down with them if they realize they’re falling.” His gaze is heavy over Xie Lian. Xie Lian doesn’t dare look at him. “You can’t save them.” “Even so,” he says, “I still want to try.” Even if it’s only him, it’ll already be enough. No more words are said. Xie Lian jumps down from Heaven. AKA the AU where Xie Lian never interferes directly in the war and therefore is never banished from Heaven. For the better or worse, many things change, and others stay the same. One thing is for certain, however: by the Heaven Official's blessing, no paths are bound. Words: 6778, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Xiè Lián (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Huā Chéng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Mù Qíng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Fēng Xìn (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Líng Wén (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Péi Míng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Xiè Lián's Parents (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Qī Róng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Jūn Wú (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Original Character(s) - Character, Other Minor Character(s) Relationships: Huā Chéng/Xiè Lián (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Fēng Xìn/Mù Qíng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Fēng Xìn & Mù Qíng & Xiè Lián (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Other Relationship(s) Mentioned, Other Relationship(s) to be added Additional Tags: Canon Divergence, Book 4 (English physical volume 6) spoilers, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Xie Lian, Implied/Referenced Gender Dysphoria, Canon typical violence and body horror, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no beta we die like shi wudu via https://ift.tt/cK3W5GR

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #fengqing #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #feng xin #mu qing

[megsbooklr]

Mid Year Book Freak Out 2023

Best Book You’ve Read So Far: The Hound of Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

I've always been wondering why many people say it's the best SH story - now I finally know ^^ I love stories that change your initial ideas about the characters and the events to such degree!

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far: Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan

Very satisfying conclusion to Xingyin's fight for her family and love!

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year: 

Dusza pokryta bliznami by Robert M. Wegner (yay, we have the title! and I remember nothing from the first five books, but who cares! Not me! :D)

and

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson (I only read the Mistborn OG trilogy and the novella about Forgers by this author, but there's something drawing me to this book ^^)

Biggest Disappointment: Midnight Library by Matt Haig

It wasn't that bad (the ending though... ehh), I just expected something more Earth-shattering given all the hype.

(same about The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd)

Biggest Surprise:

1) that I genuinely didn't expect the twist in The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle and thought it was just A Study in Scarlet 2.0

2) Aoharu x Machinegun by NAOE - it's a manga on a subject that couldn't be farther from my interests, and YET. I am fascinated~

Favorite New Author: Kafka Asagiri. His mind... :D

...also Xiran Jay Zhao, I guess :) Iron Widow is a compelling book ^^

Newest Fictional Crush: Masamune Matsuoka from Aoharu x Machinegun <3

Newest Favorite Character: Everyone from Bungou Stray Dogs...? :D

Book That Made You Cry: that one volume of Bungou Stray Dogs in which Mushitarou stays with Poe and tries writing again... :')

Book That Made You Happy: Not sure how to answer that... but reading Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse made me feel like a middle-grader at the beginning of an exciting bookish adventure, so let's go with that ^^

Favorite Book to TV Adaptation: Da Ming Under the Microscope

I haven't read the novel by Ma Bo Yong, but the drama is great!

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year: The Polish edition of Babel by R.F. Kuang

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To: the sixth volume of Heaven Official's Blessing

Book You NEED to Read By the End of the Year: Babel and The Nature of Middle Earth :)

#mid year book freak out 2023

[blueberrycreamcheesecake]

I really don’t give a damn about BL stories and Yaoi before, in fact I found it disgusting and inappropriate and out of norm. I don’t even waste a second trying to even look at the covers until I watched Heaven Official’s Blessing…

It was a very gloomy afternoon and I just got off hospital after several days of confinement due to excessive bleeding, out of boredom I open up the television and log onto Netflix and play random anime that pop suggested… Left the TV on and ransack the ref to get snack, ready to be a couch potato for the following hours… then the second my eyes landed on Xie Lian’s beautiful face,,, I knew, Im doomed to have this fictional crush again after my Tamahome obsession… not yet recovering from being enchanted by Xie Lian’s face there goes San Lang/ Hua Cheng to shake off my dull life… (Hey! I am Married with a handsome husband though =) haha)

While I am writing this, I can’t help but smile trying to figure out what happened to me, I should Blame MXTX for making a movement in my bank account by purchasing the book collection that were available in the market during that time (Volume 1-3) … I don’t usually spend on books, but after watching the first season of TGCF I knew, I needed to get a hold of the book and no one can stop me. (Not even my husband)

#mxtx novels #tian guan ci fu #hua cheng #xie lian

[a-yaos-little-murder-beans]

Got an email that my TGCF novel volume 2 is on the way.

Forgot that I ordered that.

#it said 6 weeks #apparently 6 weeks have passed #wow #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #tgcf novel #akikos shitpost #need to look if volume 1 can be ordered again #wasn't available when I ordered tgcf 2 and svsss 1

[mellicindi]

Danmei Reading List

I feel deep into the danmei abyss over the past few months - so deep that I needed to make a blog to vent my thoughts before I get decompression-sickness trying to crawl back up to reality lmao

These aren’t reviews/reccs so much as a brief tally of which novels I’ve read so far, and which I plan to read next. If any of them catch your attention, the titles should link to carrds where you can learn more about them!

Read so far, in order:

MoDaoZuShi - Ah, the gateway drug.This was my first exposure to the xianxia genre, and it hooked me hard and fast. The flying swords, magic music, and necromancer MC got my attention, but the grey morality, complex family dynamics, and theme of second chances made it impossible to look away. It was so refreshing to read about a queer adult who is still very much figuring himself out, who made decisions with dire consequences (and paid those consequences) before finally being able to fight his way to a happy ending. (You can see why I got really absorbed in danmei as a whole.) Also, it’s just SO FUN to read from Wei WuXian’s POV - witty, eccentric, principled, but so unable to look at himself and his own desires because he’s so focused on helping everybody else. I loved how the narrative voice echoed his reluctance to dwell on suffering by all but cutting out the parts of the story where he endured the most pain, and leaving the reader to fill in the gaps. Speaking of...

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System - SHEN QINGQIU, YOU’RE A MESS! A MESS!! But a mess whose narrative voice single-handedly turned an abject tragedy into one of the funniest novels I’ve read in years. The friend who recommended Scum Villain to me pitched it as a comedy with some romantic elements, so when the corpse-clutching crap hit the fan, I was completely blindsided by the Dumpster Fire(affectionate) that was SQQ and LBH constantly talking past each other and hurting each other because each was convinced they understood the other. I ended up loving this story for completely different reasons than I anticipated. I wanna give BingHe a hug.

Heaven Official’s Blessing - XIE LIAN, LIGHT OF MY LIFE!! MOON OF MY STARS!! FIRE OF MY LOINS!! Ahem. Yeah, I liked Xie Lian a bunch. My favorite parts of the story focused on his past character development leading up to his present isolation and lack of self-worth. His personal story deeply resonated with me; from believing he had the power to make the world a better place, to feeling pathetic, useless, ashamed of his past arrogance... and then, learning that maybe he wasn’t so foolish after all. It wasn’t a cynical tale of a self-righteous prince being brought down to the ‘real world’ - it was a long struggle to remain a good person through extraordinary suffering. A tale of self-forgiveness for being unable to live up to high standards, and being loved regardless. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng just worked so seamlessly together, despite having very different ideals, and watching them fall in love made me incredibly happy.

Dumb Husky and his White Cat Shizun - Happiness who?? 1-800-Would-You-Like-To-SUFFER?? Uh, yeah. So. This... might be my favorite book. Ever. I hesitate to comment too much because I read half of it as MTL, but holy shit?? Meatbun, how are you so powerful at plotting that I sat through ~150 chapters of garbled google-translate text and STILL sobbed more than any other book I’ve read? I have NEVER seen character development of this caliber before. (And yet, I can’t recommend it to anyone irl because of the laundry list of content warnings lmao.) I will absolutely read it again when Rynn and Suika finish their translation, and will probably read it many, many times after that. (Yeah, this book is longer than all 7 volumes of Harry Potter combined, and I read it in a week. I think I was possessed.)

YuWu - Back to meatbun and MTL hell. Surprise surprise, I also loved this one. XiMang might be my favorite CP that I’ve come across so far. The plot isn’t quite as absurdly perfect as Dumb Husky, but it was a damn good ride. Again, I’m going to re-read the whole thing when Congeebrains’s translation is complete, and will feel more confident speaking on it then, but there’s so much I want to say about this story. The forlorn yearning, the betrayal, the nuanced take-down of patriotism... not to mention one of the most fascinating casts of side characters yet. Please just let XiMang be happy.

Nan Chan - Wasn’t expecting to be so engrossed by the mystery aspect of the story, but the plot was well-constructed and threaded together with intricate motifs. There were enough suspects to keep me questioning who the ‘final boss’ would be, and the reveal was deeply satisfying thematically. The fantastical elements based in Buddhism were, for lack of better words, really fucking cool. The Blood Sea? The Heavens literally collapsing down into the mortal realm?? A being’s true form being visible in their spiritual sea??? (Would love to read more novels in this vein, if anyone has reccs.) Also, I mean, the MC starts off as a fish. A FISH. Can’t get better than fish x sword romance.

In-Progress:

Sha Po Lang - There’s so much to be engrossed by in this novel, from the world-building to the complex characters, but I’m a bit too smooth-brained for the military&political maneuvers in the latter part. I will definitely come back and re-read it from the start at some point, but there are so many other shiny stories I want to read in the meantime.

Golden Stage - A big fan of how chill the CP are with interacting with each other. Very refreshing that they get together early-on, and the majority of the story is about them supporting each other through their ordeals. I’m at chapter 60 currently, not really sure why I haven’t been able to push through to the end. It may just be that I’m a slut for fantasy, and this novel is fairly grounded in reality.

To Rule in a Turbulent World - Considering than I am the aforementioned slut-for-fantasy, I was shocked at how addicted I became to this book. (The most fantastical thing that happens is the ML being slightly stronger than is probably possible.) You wouldn’t think that a relationship between a spoiled 16yo and a sex slave could be so wholesome... It’s similar to Golden Stage in that the CP get together early on, and support each other through various tribulations. And tribulations are aplenty! I was lulled into a calm and warm story of a tea-merchant’s son setting up a prosperous estate from scratch, and then - WAR! TRAUMA! And worst of all.... BEING A POLITICIAN! I jest, but this novel puts the ‘historical’ in ‘historical fiction,’ and comes across as being incredibly well-researched and does a fantastic job of enveloping the reader in its world. I’m getting towards the end of Book 4, and I already know I’m gonna go feral waiting for the last ~15 chapters to be translated.

To-Read List:

Lord Seventh

Jing Wei Qing Shan (GIRLS? LES BEANS?? PLEASE AND THANK. One day I will read enough baihe to have its own list \o/)

Qiang Jin Jiu

Revitalization of FuYao Sect

I may do first-impressions/read-throughs of these novels among others. Aside from that, I plan on doing more thorough reviews/recommendations for the ones I have completed.

#danmei #mdzs #svsss #tgcf #2ha #yuwu #nan chan #reading

[righteousinadversity]

Hi , I am the anon who asked about the anti wangxian and anti lwj drama and let's just forget and ignore those people who do shitty takes like those.

I wanna know how you came to know about mxtx.

I discovered her in the most random ways that one can , it's really funny and I am really lucky for discovering her the way I did.

I saw an ad on YouTube about the tgcf's donghua trailer on a video which I skipped halfway , I didn't know what it was , but what I knew about it was that it was a Chinese anime , I don't know why but I picked up gay romance vibes from it , I don't know how I picked it up because I was a oblivious fool during that time when it came to picking up romance vibes from any piece of fiction or media and I didn't even see Hua Cheng in the trailer , nothing related to romance was in the trailer . I didn't know the show's name during that time , but I was quite curious about it , but during that time thought that I shouldn't watch it , since I never understood romance in fiction as well as in real life . This happened in my birthday month by the way .

One month later , I again saw a sneak peak of it on Netflix when it got recommended to me , but still decided not to watch it since I might not understand it . I knew though that it was not a cringey romance show which I hate , and thanks to those stuffy shows I hated romance as a genre and never understood anything about it.

Two months later after it's title card on Netflix kept staring at me and curiosity won me over , I decided to give it a chance and watched it , I am glad that my curiosity won me over that day and my intuition about the show came true cuz it didn't turned out to be those cringey romances and it was full of symbolism , trust , bonding , romance, adventure , oh I could rant and rant and will stop only after I don't have energy left.

The show won me over , Xie Lian and Hua Cheng took control over me and I could not stop gushing about it . After that , I discovered mxtx and then discovered mdzs and svsss.

One month later , I watched mdzs's season 1 and wondered how could the author write such perfect stories. There was not a lot of romance between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian , but it was enough for me to understand that they cared a lot about each other and that Lan Wangji had fallen in love in the Xuanwu Cave.

Fast forward to 2 months , I watched svsss and loved it , and started reading the novel , I loved it but still have some questionable thoughts about the romance . Everything else was perfect. OOC IS OOC became my new catchphrase and I say it most of the times.

Fast forward to October , I watched 21 episodes of the untamed because apparently everyone was recommending it to me , I didn't watched it completely and found it a little bit boring (might get hate 😝, the actors were great but it still felt boring) compared to the donghua's 1st season , it just wasn't doing it for me ( they introduced yin iron which I didn't liked at all and changed some things) , then I started reading mdzs and felt all different sort of things , it is the most perfect story I have ever read in my life , I can rant more and more and more and would never stop until I die because of not having proper food , water and sleep because of ranting.

Tgcf is the only one I haven't read yet , and will probably start after volume 2 of the novel releases , I can't wait to see what it has in store , I can't wait to feel a plethora of emotions.

I can't still believe that an oblivious fool and a romance hater experienced so many different emotions , mxtx changed me so much and I will forever be grateful to her . And the stupid thing is I still don't grasp romance because it is still written in such a shallow way when it comes to many works , but when it comes to mxtx's works everything is so deep and symbolic.

Mxtx changed the meaning of romance and so many things for me.

I will forever be grateful to YouTube and Netflix for letting me discover mxtx .

Heaven Official's Blessing was literally a blessing for me. Everyday I thank God for making me discover mxtx.

Sorry it got a bit too long and is a bit cliché but I can still rant more and more ,thanks for reading. 🤗

Feel free to rant, anon! I am glad that you discovered this lovely author!

I have restricted myself from reading either TGCF or SVSSS just yet because my academic life can't handle it. MDZS lives in my head rent-free.

How I discovered MXTX? Hm. Let's see. In the early Jan of 2020, I came across an untamed edit on youtube that was basically crack, but I was won over by WWX's smile and Wangxian's interaction. I think there was the scene where WWX goes on reciting the Lan rules to WC, and while I didn't understand the significance of it then, I was intrigued, and because I had time, then, I looked up the show and went to watch CQL.

Now, three episodes in is when I found out that it was an adaptation, and I went searching for the actual novel version because I have always preferred books over visual media. After finishing the novel, I loved and adored it, both WWX and LWJ stole my heart. Every theme it explored, from mob mentality to righteousness to power plays to resentment to staying true to your heart, was absolutely beautiful.

I didn't delve into any of the adaptations until like, April, because I had exams and stuff, but afterwards, I finished CQL and I didn't... find it as appealing. Honestly, I was in it for Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo and that was it. I only started watching the donghua much, much later, binge-watching it during my winter break.

I am genuinely thankful for MDZS. It gave me life lessons that I aspire to live by.

"let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on."

"You have to remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don’t hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free."

As MXTX said, I hope to be like Lan WangJi in virtue and Wei WuXian in character.

#MXTX #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #asks

[razberryyum]

So you’re done with The Untamed and want more, what now?

Reposting this since I’ve updated it with new info/links. Again, I entered the fandom via The Untamed so I’m by no means a MDZS expert, just tried my best gathering all the resources I can which I hope will help some new Untamed/MDZS fan out there. If you spot any errors, don’t yell at me, just let me know and I’ll correct it as best I can, especially for any future reposts.

READ THE NOVEL

Read the original web novel the show was based on: The Untamed (aka “CQL” or “Chen Qing Ling”) was adapted from the BL web novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (aka ”MDZS” or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) by author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (”MXTX”). Yes the novel came first, CQL is only an adaptation. In the novel, you get the uncensored romance of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, where they are canonically married and living happily ever after. The novel goes full into R18 territory so please tread carefully.

All four volumes of the novel can be purchased from the original publishing site, JJWXC. The site’s in chinese but here’s a tutorial on how to navigate it and purchase the books:  JJWXC Tutorial Link.

There’s also the option of purchasing the physical copies from Yesasia which might be easier but it’s also more expensive since they’re the middle man: Yesasia MDZS Link

It would be wonderful if you can support MXTX-laoshi by actually buying the books, especially since the cover art is so beautiful and the extra chapter volumes come with a lot of awesome extra goodies, but of course there’s also the option of reading the fan translations graciously provided by the Exiled Rebels Scanlations team at their site:  

They translated all the novels including the bonus chapters in their own free time and are providing the fanslations for free so please give them some love for all their hard work.  

WATCH THE ANIME (aka “Donghua” in Chinese)

Watch the anime based on the novel: The donghua was released before The Untamed. Two seasons are already available (23 eps total) with a third season in production and a special chibi version of the donghua in production as well. The Eng-subbed donghua can be seen using the WeTV app or on Youtube:  YT MDZS Donghua Playlist

Grant it, the donghua is even more censored than The Untamed, but the donghua team still managed to sneak in some easter eggs (f.e. WangXian naked bathing scene in the cold springs from the novel...in The Untamed they were fully clothed) and more importantly, the animation is just gorgeous so it’s absolutely worth a watch despite the censorship. 

READ THE MANGA (aka “Manhua” in Chinese)

Read the manhua which is ongoing and is being officially translated by WeComics, available on their app for free. Search under the name “Mo Dao Zu Shi”.

Unfortunately, the official translations are more than 20 chaps behind the raws and there have been complaints about the quality of the translations in the past, but I believe they’re starting to improve so since they’re official, it’s always better to support the official source.

The raw untranslated manhua can be found on the Kuaikanmanhua app. Other than being in Chinese, some of the chapters (f.e. the most recent ones) are behind a paywall, but here’s a tutorial on how to purchase the chapters, provided by @chiharuzushi on Twitter:  Kuaikanmanhua Tutorial

The chapters are quite cheap...I purchase 1000 KK coins for 10 rmb ($0.14) and each chapter is only 68 KK coins so even if we end up with 500 chapters it’ll still be...er...quite cheap overall (don’t make me do the actual math). The most painful part is figuring out how to set up the Kuaikanmanhua account, but otherwise, if you can read Chinese or know enough of the story by now that you don’t really need to read the words, the manhua is definitely worth reading because it’s less censored than The Untamed and the donghua. 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO DRAMA

Listen to the audio drama, which is at this point the most faithful and LEAST censored adaptation of the novel we will probably ever get! Wei Ying’s voice actor in The Untamed is the voice actor for his audio drama counterpart. (Yes, almost everyone in The Untamed is dubbed by a voice actor, EXCEPT for Nie Huaisang. Ji Li, the actor for NHS, was the only one who used his own voice. Lan Zhan in The Untamed shares the same voice actor as his character in the donghua). 

Each episode art of the audio drama is AMAZING. Google Translate works well on the site, you’d want to see the listeners’ comments cuz they’re just adorable and hilarious.

Official links on Maoer FM:

Season 1: Maoer FM S1 Link

Season 2: Maoer FM S2 Link

Season 3: Maoer FM S3 Link

The audio drama was supervised by MXTX-laoshi, the author of the novel, so a lot of love and care went into the production, and it shows. The audio drama is behind a paywall but I remember it’s relatively inexpensive. Here’s the tutorial on how to purchase the audio drama from the Maoer FM site:  Maoer FM Tutorial Link

Ngl, it was tough at first navigating all that, Google translate helped, but once I figured it out, it was all so worth it because in addition to the MDZS, the site houses a lot of other wonderful audio dramas. There are also MDZS fan songs on the site that are near professional quality and oh so good.

Suibian Subs have kindly translated the episodes and their translations are available here:  Suibian Subs MDZS Audio Drama

Show them some love too for translating the episodes, but please if you can, purchase the episodes so you can support the audio drama team which have done an amazing job.

There’s even a Japanese audio drama which the Chinese AD team helped spearhead, available on the MIMI FM app. Here’s a tutorial on how to purchase the eps (half of the first season is out): MIMI FM Tutorial

It’s in Japanese but just follow the pictures. I’m hoping that the Japanese audio drama will end up being the MOST uncensored version of MDZS since Japanese BL dramas are not afraid (and allowed) to go all the way to R18. XD

MORE THE UNTAMED CONTENT

Lastly, if you’re just thirsting for more Untamed content, there are two spin-off movies you can watch. The first one, The Living Dead, is kind of centered on Wen Ning and Sizhui post-CQL. 

The second one, Fatal Journey, is focused on the Nie brothers, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, with a cameo by Jin Guangyao. It takes place prior to Wei Ying’s return from the dead.

Of the two movies, I definitely recommend Fatal Journey more. Both movies are available on the iQiyi app, which offers a one month free trial for first members. Each month afterwards for VIP is $6.99.

You can also go on the WeTV app for even more Untamed extras: WeTV put out a special edition cut of the show which tightened up the story AND features the original ending that was intended before censorship forced the production team to come up with the more ambiguous one we saw in its original run. It was a simple matter of rearranging certain scenes and getting rid of the separation part, but imho it really made all the difference to the ending.

There’s a ton of behind-the-scene cuteness that you can watch and also concerts with the cast in Thailand and Nanjing. VIP subscription to the WeTV app is $5.99/month and the Nanjing concert is for rent for 3 months at about the same price.  

The show also put out two official soundtracks, one for the vocals and one for the score. Both are available on Amazon and iTunes. For Amazon though, you can search under “The Untamed” but they did this weird thing where the vocals one is listed as “The Untamed (Chinoiserie Music Album)” (wtf) while the score is just listed as “The Untamed (Original Soundtrack)”.

Finally, most of the male members of the cast took part in a fan meet and greet at the start of the show, before it became hugely popular. The entire meet and greet is available on youtube subbed: The Untamed Fan Meeting

That’s it for The Untamed and MDZS. If you end up liking the novel enough to want to read more by the same author, MXTX-laoshi has also written two other BL novels, The Scum Villain Self-Saving System (aka “SVSSS” or “Scum Villain”) and Heaven’s Official Blessing (aka “TGCF” after its Chinese title). Both have been fully translated by fans (but always try to buy the original if you have the means, as a way to support the author!): 

SVSSS Translation: BC Novels Link

TGCF Translation chaps 1 - 24:  Sakhyulations Link

TGCF Translation chaps 25 - End: Suika & Rynn Link

As with reading any BL novel (aka “danmei novel” for Chinese BL books), please heed the warnings and if it’s not your cup of tea, just exit out of the page and move on with your life. No big deal, right? 

Anyway, hope all this info dump helps someone! If you’re brand spanking new to this fandom, welcome, and I’m so jealous of you! Would love to relive stepping into the world of MDZS/MXTX/danmei novels all over again since I feel like I’m already running out of stuff to read and I’m beginning to panic a little. 

Happy watching/reading/listening!  

#The Untamed #CQL #Mo Dao Zu Shi #MDZS #WangXian #MXTX

[weemsbotts]

The Disappearing Pitter Patter of Feet: The Colonial Girls Lost in Time

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Participating in any of our outside walking tours, day or night, includes a trip to Dumfries Elementary Public School and Dumfries Cemetery. One ghost story specifically refers to the appearance of “colonial girls” and in a town filled with Civil War folklore, it is intriguing this particular association attached itself to the school. But if Dumfries Graded School and later Dumfries Elementary Public School operated in the early 1900s, why colonial ghost children?

In 06/19/1795, Mrs. Simson advertised the opening of her Boarding School in the Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser. “Where she intends teaching all kinds of needle-work, in silk and worsted; she also teaches the tambour and embroidery, with the art and elegance of shading, and taste in the arrangement of patterns.” She wished to “cultivate their young minds, as well as form their manners” flattering herself “that she has given satisfaction to the parents of those whom she has already had the honour to instruct – and gained the love of her pupils.” Besides for needlework, she advertised “reading, spelling, and writing taught with propriety”.

Mrs. Simson’s indicated that the Boarding School was “at the House of Thomas Lee, Esquire, on the Hill”. The famed Lee family owned property throughout Virginia including the Town of Dumfries and while both Colonel and former Governor of Virginia Thomas Lee and Thomas Ludwell Lee, Sr. died before the 1780s, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Jr. presumably placed a newspaper ad in the Alexandria Gazette on 09/17/1787 for persons wishing to rent “a large Commodious Store house in Dumfries, as well situated being nearly in the centre of the main streets…” Charles Lee also advertised in the same paper and date “…to be leased forever at public auction…about 15 lots situated in the town of Dumfries on the main street opposite to McDaniels Tavern being part of the square now occupied by Henderson, Ferguson & Gibson”. While the Lees rented and sold property in Dumfries, some to the Merchant family, the house “on the hill” likely referred to the area around the current Dumfries Elementary Public School.

In 18th century America, middle- and upper-class white families usually hired tutors to instruct their young daughters the basics of writing and arithmetic, with more advanced and skilled instruction in needlework, music, manners, and other forms of arts and crafts. If the parents could and were willing to send their daughters to a boarding school, they would hone their skills in needlework and come back with a “level up” – a finished needlework to display prominently in the home, discreetly (?) informing guests of the family’s wealth, sophistication, and refinement. These “female accomplishments” were important signals to a society focused on appearance and marriage. Virginia prohibited the gathering of enslaved children for the purpose of education extending from the constant white paranoia that educated enslaved persons were more likely to rebel. However, the Bray Schools in Virginia instructed enslaved persons in Christian education through biblical literacy. Both Williamsburg and Fredericksburg operated official Bray schools ranging from 1760-1774, although Fielding Lewis encountered low enrollment and white hostility forcing him to close the Fredericksburg location sooner.

Although siltation was an issue by 1795, the town of Dumfries still attracted people as the Henderson family resided in Dumfries and Mason Locke Weems had yet to purchase the lot for his book depository. However, we have so little information beyond the newspaper advertisement for the boarding school. Did anyone pay the fee to board their children? If so, which families took advantage of this offer and what were their experiences in Dumfries?

Interestingly, the Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser also included the following song in the same paper with Mrs. Simson’s advertisement, titled “Domestic Felicity”. Although not attributed to any person in the newspaper, this song appears in Isaiah Thomas, Jr.’s ed, “The Sky Lark: or Gentlemen and ladies’ complete songster. Being a collection of the most modern and celebrated American, English, and Scotch songs”.

“Though grandeur flies my humble roof,

Tho’ wealth is not my share,

Tho’ lowly is my little cot,

Yet happiness is there.

 *

A tender wife, with mild control,

By sympathy refin’d,

When rage the tumults of the breast,

Becalms my troubled mind.

 *

Three pledges of our mutual love,

Kind Providence has given,

And competence, to nurse their hopes,

Is all we ask of Heaven.

 *

Still, from the little we enjoy,

A little we dispense;

And watch the buddings of their mind

Just blossoming to sense.

 *

With arm entwin’d in arm we fit;

And join their hands to pray;

And teach the accents of their tongue,

To hail the rising day.

 *

At eve again they kneel and bless

The hours which are now past;

And hope their cherish’d virtues may

Prove happiness at last.

*

Accept, Great Father of us all;

Accept their little prayers,

And grant the nurslings of our youth

May crown our silver hairs.

*

Let those whose weak and infant limbs

With tenderness we guide,

Be props unto our age when down

The steep of life we glide.”

(Image: Instruction with Delight. Thomas, Isaiah. Little Robin Red Breast. A Little Pretty Pocket-book Intended for the Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly. Massachusetts: Worcester, 1787. The Colonial Society of Massachusetts: 18th century Massachusetts Songsters, Volume 54, Music in Colonial Massachusetts, 1630-1820: Music in Homes and Churches)

While the “colonial girls” will not respond to repeated queries (naturally), they and all the ghosts, such as the enslaved persons, represent our quest to understand everyone living in Dumfries. While essays and books are continually written about the white male society, they are not the ghostly figures people claim to see in this town – instead, it is the ones whom society did not equate as equal.

Note: While our closed season begins on 11/01/2020, we will continue to offer online virtual tours! The online tour includes a meeting with the staff and a video of the house. Stay tuned for special virtual November Member programs along with news of possible holiday outside walking tours! Click here to access info regarding our latest & upcoming programs and tours!

(Sources: The Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser, No. VI, Vol 1, 06/19/1795; HDVI Archival Files: Dumfries – Town Lots, Newspaper Notices; University of Michigan Digital Text Collections: Evans Early American Imprint Collection Text Creation Partnership; MET: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Peck, Amelia. American Needlework in the 18th Century, 10/2003; Library of Virginia & Virginia Humanities: Encyclopedia Virginia. Bly, Antonio. Slave Literacy and Education in Virginia)

#womens history #local history #education #boarding school #museumfromhome #blackhistory #virginia history #needlework #ghoststories #old newspapers #mystery #slavery

[timelordthirteen]

Killing Time 11/?

Detective Weaver/Belle French, Explicit

Summary: A Woven Beauty Law & Order-ish AU. Written for Writer’s Month 2019.

Chapter Summary: After taking the newly discovered poetry book to the station, Weaver and Belle have a heart to heart.

Notes: FEELINGS. I actually started to cry while I was writing this. I'm sorry. There's a lot of exposition in the beginning, but I didn't want it to get too unwieldy. Enjoy a little bit of Nick and Jack's backstory as I attempt to setup some more plot. For the Writer's Month prompt #21: hope.

Warnings: Please see AO3 for complete warnings and tags. No additional warnings for this chapter.

[AO3]  Previous: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

It was another two hours spent at the station after they brought in the poetry book.

Rogers and Humbert were too shocked to chastise them for going back to Belle’s apartment, but that was the only small blessing. Belle explained her theory, that Jack left the book at some point while he was in her apartment. Everyone agreed that the highlighted phrases were disturbing when put in that context, especially given the strange nature of Jack and Nick’s relationship, as well as the bits and pieces they’d been able to pull together of their background.

They boys were brothers, four years apart, with Jack being the oldest. Their father, Edgar Branson, was assumed to have been abusive, though there was little actual evidence of it beyond one trip to the emergency room for a broken arm when Jack was eight. It was a spiral fracture, but in reality it could have come from any number of possible incidents. Their father died of lung cancer a few years ago, while living in a care home, and it appeared that at no point after high school did either son have any contact with the man.

In general, there was very little paper trail on their family, and no evidence of a sister as one of the poetry selections seemed to reference. Weaver had been unable to find anything on their mother beyond her name on their birth certificates, Ellen Branson. She didn’t have any employment or tax record, and tracking down the marriage certificate had taken six calls to three different states and the better part of an afternoon.

Rogers made reviewing records for any indication of a sister his first priority for the morning, and Belle agreed to come back in the afternoon to file an amendment to her statement, covering the return trip to her apartment. After that, Humbert all but kicked Weaver and Belle out of the station and forbade them entry with the only exception being official business.

They returned to Weaver’s apartment some time later, after a brief trip to the nearby market. Belle insisted she wasn’t hungry, but Weaver knew that once he got into cooking she would likely come around. Fortunately, he was right, and after a steaming hot shower, she came wandering back into the kitchen, sniffing loudly, just as he was pouring the noodles into the strainer.

He smirked as he slid onto one of the stools at the island. “I see someone is still a sucker for garlic butter sauce.”

“Shut up,” she replied around a mouthful of noodles, and he laughed.

The rest of the evening consisted of Belle at one end of the sofa, reading a book, and Weaver flipping channels back and forth between a football match and The Maltese Falcon. He didn’t really care about either, he was just trying to keep his mind occupied instead of wondering what would happen when it got late enough to go to bed. Part of him was all too happy to curl up with her again and spend the night beside her, while another part desperately wanted to protect his heart until he knew where he stood.

He’d been a little too ready to throw himself at her before, to take every moment she would give him, and give her everything she wanted. It stung when she pretended their first encounter in her office never happened, and it was even worse after the second time. He felt like he’d taken advantage of the situation, in spite of the marks she’d left on his back when she came.

Belle yawned, and he glanced at his phone. It was after nine, and given everything she’d been through that day, it was no wonder she was worn out.

“You should rest,” he said, turning down the volume on the television.

She sighed, but didn’t look up from her book. “Yeah.”

“You can have the bed again.”

She marked her spot in the book, and looked up at him. “And you’re going to sleep out here?”

He swallowed and nodded. “I think that’s probably best.”

“Is it?” She bit her lip, and then shook her head as she pushed up off the couch. “Sorry. I’ll just go. Good night.”

Weaver caught her hand as she walked by him, and her fingers reflexively curled around his. “Belle.” She stopped, and he stood up. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

She looked down and watched their joined hands swinging slowly back and forth by her hip. She knew they couldn’t keep going this way, but the thought of Ian sharing the bed with her was immediately calming.

“Yes,” she said softly, her eyes closing as he turned and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll clean up out here and come in, okay?”

She nodded, and gave his hand a squeeze in thanks.

Weaver sighed as he slid between the cool sheets. The bed had been their most expensive purchase as a couple, and while he’d initially balked at paying so much for a mattress, it was definitely the best possible thing they could have done. Coming home to a comfortable bed was an amazing feeling, no matter how long or shitty the day was. That Belle had been in it as well made it as near to heaven as he imagined he’d ever get.

The intervening years after the divorce had found him sleeping in the chair or on the sofa more nights than in the bedroom. It had done his back no favors, but it was too hard to be in a space that had been such a refuge and was now full of bitter memories.

Belle was laying on her side, facing him, so he stayed on his back. He hoped she’d fall asleep quickly, for both their sakes, but that didn’t seem to be likely.

“How do you do it?” she asked.

He frowned up at the ceiling. “Do what?”

“How do you keep all this shit from affecting you?”

He exhaled and rolled onto his side, facing her. “I don’t. I just...ignore it.” He shifted and tucked one arm under the pillow to prop his head up. “I keep moving on, until eventually it catches up with me, and I do dumb shite like punch a wall or shove some arsehole’s head in a barrel of water.”

Her lips curved and she let out a snorting laugh. “Right.”

He gave her a half smile that he hoped she could see in the dark. “The only way I can deal with the things we see is to go out and keep trying to stop it from happening.” Then he sighed heavily. “Failing that, I try to find the prick who did it.”

“And shove their head in a barrel?” she asked, though he could hear the grin in her voice.

He chuckled softly. “If they deserve it.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and he nearly rolled over again.

“I just...” She paused and swallowed. “I don’t know what to do. Like..I know how to deal with victims, how to talk to them about the trial, about what to expect, about how it will be like it’s happening all over again. But...I don’t - I don’t know how to be a victim, you know?”

Her wobbly voice made his throat tight with emotion. “I’m so sorry, Belle. None of this should have happened.”

She sniffled and pushed a strand of her hair back. “It’s not your fault. We kicked the hornet’s nest together. If we had thought that Jack would come after either of us...”

Weaver let out a ragged, shaky breath and closed his eyes. Every time he thought about walking into the emergency room, about seeing Belle covered in blood, he was filled with a nearly blinding rage. The hand under his pillow curled into a fist.

“I wanna kill him...” he muttered.

She reached for his free hand where it lay on the bed between them. “I know. But you’re better than that.”

He opened his eyes. “Am I?”

“Yes.”

Her voice was so emphatic, and he shook his head. “You always want to see the good in people.” Then he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Even when it’s not there.”

“Stop.” She squeezed his fingers. “You know you’re a good man.”

He let out a short, humorless laugh. “Some days maybe.”

She gave him a look and tugged at his hand. “No, every day. I wouldn’t have married you if you weren’t.”

“Yeah, well,” he sighed, “we know how that ended.”

She pushed up on her elbow. “Hey.” She pulled on their joined hands, drawing them across to settle them under her chin, against the bare skin of her collarbone and chest. “Don’t - don’t do that.”

Her body was so warm and soft and he wanted to savor every second of it. “Sorry,” he managed. “I’m - I’m sorry. For what I said earlier, I shouldn’t have put that on you.”

Belle frowned. “No. No, you didn’t. You were being honest, and that’s - that’s all I ever wanted you to do. To trust me and talk to me.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Better than never, eh?”

“I think so,” she replied, shifting her body closer until their hands between them were the only thing keeping them apart. She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Thank you. For everything.”

His jaw clenched as he swallowed hard.The lump in his throat felt like a rock. “Aye.”

She sniffed again and closed her eyes, feeling a tickle against her cheek as a tear loosed itself. “Fuck, I’m such a mess.”

“Hey,” he pulled his hand free from hers and reached up, brushing the wet trails from her face. When she opened her eyes, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You’re a bloody gorgeous mess.”

She pushed herself up to sit, her tears coming faster now. Her hands swiped at her cheeks and then pushed her hair back as her shoulders started to shake. Weaver sat up with her, scooting back against the pillows, and stretched his arm around her, letting her fall against him as she cried quietly. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. Let it out.”

Belle began to sob, her tears falling on his chest and soaking into his t-shirt. His chest ached and he closed his eyes, dropping his head to rest his cheek against her. “None of it’s your fault, okay? All right?”

She shifted back and looked up at him. His eyes were shining in the faint glow from the street lights outside, and she managed a small nod.

“I’ve never - never been mad at you for any of it,” he said. “Not - not this, not the divorce, not - not our baby...” His voice broke on the word, sending his own tears tumbling free. “Not any of it. Do you understand?”

She reached up and laid her palm against his cheek. “Why? Why did - why did you do it?”

He shook his head. “What?”

Her bottom lip wobbled, and her body shook as she tried to get the words out, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Why did - why did you sign the papers?”

“You left,” he said. Confusion and surprise at her question made him feel dizzy. “It’s - it’s what you wanted.”

Belle sniffed loudly and rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand before she leaned in and rested her forehead against his. Everything was a mess and she didn’t know how to fix it. There was so much that needed to get out, that she’d kept to herself because she’d thought it was for the best. Except she didn’t know that it was anymore.

“I don’t know what I wanted.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, but it didn’t seem to matter as she collapsed against him, sobs shaking her body. He held her tight until she got everything out, her body giving up out of pure exhaustion and finally letting her fall asleep. The feeling of her in his arms was like nothing else. It gave him hope that maybe things could be better after all of this, but he’d thought that before and it ended worse than he could have ever imagined. He wanted to soak up as much of Belle as he could while she was here, but he knew that when things finally went back to normal it would wreck him all over again to see her go.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #woven beauty #woven beauty fic #my woven beauty fic #fic #killing time #lemon fic