#Danmei? never heard of it

[aliceisathome]

Me, trying to convince my company that translating Priest's work into English (along with other Wuxia plus any other successful novels of BL dramas)...

#what's a BL? what's a wuxia? #asianlgbtqdramas #thai bl #korean bl #japanese bl #chinese bl #chinese bromance #Word of Honor #Danmei? never heard of it #Guardian #Legend of Fei #the untamed #gah!

[touchmycoat]

Got horny about a book packaging at the anime convention today so I bought it 💦💦 am now reading “His Highness Wants Me to Return His Chastity.”

殿下讓我還他清譽 by 三千大夢敘平生

Premise goes, after finally getting captured after the execution of his entire family, Yun Lang claims at the chopping block that he is pregnant with a royal prince's son.

鎮遠侯府滿門抄斬，小侯爺雲瑯逃了五年，一著不慎，落在暗衛手中。

雲瑯跪在法場，對著寒光閃閃的鍘刀，情急之下，一口咬定自己懷了琰王的兒子。

據傳，琰王蕭朔父母早逝，性情殘暴嗜血，手上不知多少冤魂人命。

與鎮遠侯府有不世血仇。

2. 雲瑯胡言亂語死裡逃生，被從刑場扛回了王府。

燭光下，蕭朔神色陰鷙，眉目冰冷吩咐：“找間上房，撥下人丫鬟，為小侯爺延醫用藥。”

雲瑯不好意思，剛要跟他客氣，冷不防聽見最後一句。

蕭朔：“讓他生。”

雲瑯：“……”

#danmei novels #I’ve never heard of this but I’m two chapters in #it’s so fucking lit fam #the dynamic the wit the deliberate miscommunications #DXRWHTQY #is the title nfnfjnfnfn

[remythologise]

okay JUST for you @toosday a continuation of the ‘how bad would their first time be, ranked’ based on some of the non-western ships I love (I won’t include any canon ships from danmei because their first sex scenes are literally described in detail in the books.)

kang yo han/kim ga on: there is so much catholic symbolism and bdsm going on here. gaon hearing ‘good boy’ during the act alone makes this a 15/10 experience

kurogane/fai: 12/10 world-transcendingly amazing even though fai cries during or afterwards because he doesn’t know how to accept love in a normal way

ash/eiji: if they HAD sex it would be 10/10 the first time even if either of them had Guilt about it afterwards (for different reasons; ash because he’s dragging eiji into his life, eiji because of ash’s past sexual abuse), but they never had sex because ash died. boner killer!

victor/yuuri: real ??????? on whether they had sex in canon yet actually. there are so many doujin that deal with this I won’t even try to chime in. 9/10 world-class athletes do it well

kotetsu/barnaby: well due to barnaby’s bad knee (derogatory) and kotetsu’s bad back (honorary) they don’t manage to be as athletic as they’d like about it but it’s still very sweet and overwhelmingly emotional for them both. 8/10 marks deducted for the dad jokes kotetsu made which ruined the mood

richard/seigi: they’re in the middle of having 7/10 pretty good sex and seigi says ‘you’re the most beautiful thing in this entire world’. richard has a complex about it and seigi only at this point wonders if he loves richard as more than a friend (novel readers don’t @ me this is an early canon based joke)

nezumi/shion: mutual handjobs at some point during canon in the west block are a solid no. 6/10 (ha, ha)

langa/reki: unfortunately I am SO sorry to tell you they have sex while skateboarding no I’m not kidding. despite grievous injury they enjoy it immensely and a 11/10 sexual skate gets downgraded to 5/10 only because of the bone fractures and hospital bill

lee dong sik/han joo won: this is SUCH an unbelievably bad time between joowon’s hangups over hygiene and daddy issues and guilt and dongsik’s hangups over literally everything else. 3/10 but they still come back for more because they’re far more compelling to each other than anyone else

shinji/kaworu: mind-meltingly overwhelming and existentially terrible for shinji and, much like eve, he dooms the human race while he’s at it. -100/10

#kira for ts #ask #brodie #thank you for giving me the opportunity to add these ships most of my followers will literally have never have heard of #the thing is the danmei first-sex scenes often blow these out of the water like I’ll say things jokingly and then guardian danmei is like. #well. anyway

[nyerus]

Overview of TGCF Versions

Due to recent(ish) events, I thought it would be good to make another post cataloguing all the different "versions" of TGCF, for newcomers and old fans alike! I'll also be going over some FAQs that I've seen or been asked so this post can serve as a decent info thread.

For simplicity's sake, first think of there being two "main" version of TGCF:

The Original -- what all the translations are based on, as well as the manhua and donghua.

The Revised -- what was released in print last year in China (only), and what was recently updated on JJWXC. The audio drama is adapting this

The original webnovel was itself not "censored." By that I mean, it contained everything MXTX originally wrote including kisses, swearing, innuendo, etc. MXTX did self-censor to avoid Real Censorship (hence the lack of NSFW scenes we may have gotten like in her previous novels), but that's a whole different thing. For all intents and purposes, consider the original version and (most of) its translations as being uncensored.

The revised version was first publicly released as a print novel in China. As such, it was actually censored. While "Hualian" is still there, and things are alluded to, it's a lot more vague. Kisses and a lot of other things were cut, including certain dialogue tidbits that perhaps were deemed a bit too obvious. (Plus a lot of Feng Xin and Qi Rong's cursing was removed lmao.)

HOWEVER, shortly after the print release, the audio drama started adapting the uncensored revised version. So we all knew there was an uncensored revised version somewhere in existence. It wasn't until the end of last month that we actually saw it! TGCF was available again on JJWXC after years of being "temporarily locked" to comply with regulations. (Though it was possible it was locked for other reasons. We will never fully know!) Not only was it finally unlocked, but it was actually updated to the uncensored revised version!

F.A.Q.s

1.) Why did MXTX make a revised version anyway? MXTX has mentioned before that she was not entirely satisfied with the original version of TGCF. Because she wrote and released each chapter in a serialized manner, with frequent (possibly daily?) updates, it doesn't surprise me that it didn't turn out exactly how she wanted. Now that she has the opportunity to sit down with it and go over everything on her own time, she's able to get it closer to what she wanted. In short: she's just really passionate about this story!

2.) Is there and English translation, or will there be? What about other languages? Officially, not yet. We don't know if there ever will be, as MXTX would have to re-negotiate the rights with publishers for translations, and at this time, we don't know if that'll happen. Unofficially, there are a few options: a. ClearNoodle has done some fan-translations you should check out here! b. By purchasing the webnovel on JJWXC now, you can MTL (machine translate) the novel. If you've seen screenshots in English floating around that aren't part of the fan-translations above, this is probably the source.

3.) What is JJWXC and how do I use it/purchase TGCF on it? JJWXC is the webnovel publishing site where TGCF was originally released. It hosts a giant array of C-novels, including most other danmei that you may have heard about. SV and MDZS were indeed also on JJWXC, but are currently (still) locked. To purchase TGCF (or any other novel) on JJWXC, cangji.net has an excellent guide and list of other helpful links to get you all set up. Please do check it out! Additionally, buying on JJWXC seems to be the most direct way to support authors. You can also throw bonus tips at them!

4.) How much has really changed in the revised version? A fair bit. Mostly, the changes are to do with plot structure, minor characters, overall flow, and so on. It's still essentially the same story, but in a way that feels fresh. Hualian in particular have exactly the same dynamic as before. MXTX added extra scenes between them, including very sweet and tender domestic stuff haha! There's also a few new lines of spicier dialogue to go along with some of the scenes that already existed in the original.

5.) So what is considered canonical? Both, in a way. MXTX has stated that she's happy if fans can enjoy both at once, and that we're free to pick-and-choose as we wish. Personally, while there are many things I prefer from the original, the revised version is something closer to MXTX's true vision for the novel. So I feel that holds a little bit of weight there, too.

6.) Will the manhua/donghua be adapting any of the newly revised content? So far that seems unlikely. The revised version facelifts a lot from the early parts of the story, which is stuff these adaptations have already covered. It would be hard to change things down the line now. At most they could add some of the extra dialogue or such, but we'll see if that's the case. For now, we simply don't know and shouldn't count on it. If you'd still like an adaptation of the revised, please absolutely check out the audio drama! It's easily become my personal fave adaptation of the story, and is made by a small but very passionate team who are close to MXTX. Thus, it's quite faithful and does the source material such justice! <3

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hob #heaven official's blessing #this post was supposed to be out WEEKS ago but such is life lol #nyerus.txt #guide

[not-poignant]

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance?

Because I had no choice for many years.

Because that choice was taken away from me by a homophobic, transphobic, queerphobic, acephobic society. So all the romances I read had to be heterosexual, all the romances I watched had to be heterosexual, all the romances I heard of had to be heterosexual.

Because I'm not heterosexual.

Because I never saw myself represented in any stories ever, for over about 20 years (queer stuff existed, but where I was situated in Perth, Western Australia, meant that I was not seeing it).

Because I was force-fed allonormative, heteronormative, heterosexual tropes, bullshit, toxicity, misogyny, patriarchal culture, rape culture and more, and because everyone assumed that was normal, which made me feel isolated, marginalised, alone, and bereft, and cut me out of knowing what a life could look like for myself, and made relationships harder, when you don't have the words or stories to latch onto.

People like me couldn't even be erased out of the media, we hardly existed in the media, and if we did, almost never under our real identities, and almost always having to pretend to be something we weren't, for many people who hated us, or wished we were dead, or simply didn't care about us at all.

So, when I finally got a choice, I made a choice.

And I do not want to read heterosexual content anymore, unless it's queer (like T4T). The only place I actually willingly consume heterosexual romantic content these days is like 80s and 90s and early 00s romantic comedies. It's the only thing I allow through my filter, because so many of them have a really strong bent of hurt/comfort in them, and it's rare to find movies that have this in general.

But yeah otherwise het is just not a thing I look for in fiction. Literally a squick. Literally reminds me of 20 years of oppression in the mass media. It's not inherently bad, it just wasn't good for me personally, to never have a choice.

So I made one :D And my life has been so much better for it. I'm never going back.

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

It's just better for me, anon! I find a lot of western published m/m (so not like m/m fanfiction which I still read) often feels stifled and too short for me, and the characterisation doesn't get as deep as I want it to get. I often can feel the rigidity of the novel structure on authors who are trying to rapid release, and the depth I'm looking for is rarely there. Sometimes that's what people want! Sometimes they don't know there's other options!

Sometimes that's true of some BL manga/manhua/manhwa etc. as well. Tbh it's probably true of a lot of it! Serial format doesn't always allow for depth either. But I find the visual format easier to read as well. If I reread western m/m it's almost always fanfiction. And tbh, I'm sure some amazing m/m was published last year, I just get tired of having to wade through it all to find something I like. It got to the point where I was reading like 60+ titles just to find one average read, and I gave up.

The recommendation systems for BL tend to be better and more on point for me, I find most people who recommend published m/m to me generally always miss the mark (which isn't their fault - I'm particular, there's a reason I write what I write - because I can't find it to read!!), but close friends like @morbidlizard who recommend BL to me almost always hit the mark!

I don't actually read much danmei, but mostly because I haven't had time to really sink my teeth into it. Aside from MXTX, I haven't explored much further.

But yeah, hope that helps! :D

#asks and answers #personal #can't even put inadvertent recs on this #honestly 'rapid release' was kind of the death of it being easy to find a lot of good #m/m fiction being published #it's still out there it's just way more 'needle in a haystack'-y than it used to be #also there's way more fandom tropes like hurt/comfort etc. in manhwa and manga in particular #so it speaks a language i prefer #like Define the Relationship has SO many moments of hurt/comfort #just over and over again #i find published novel-format m/m just really kind of misses the mark on this #and honestly i include my own stuff in that #the novel format isn't super friendly to it #compared to the serial format #i'm sure that's not true across the board #it's just true 'so far'

[olderthannetfic]

on the topic of "youtubers who aren't shills for purity culture": james somerton used to be a youtuber i would recommend to others as someone free of purity culture, but after revisting his videos, he unfortunately falls into the same tired, incorrect nonsense. he made an entire video about killing stalking that was filled with the same talking points of antis with additional layers of whining about how he's better at media analysis than teenage girls because he watches cinema or something (yet, the hypothetical "teenage girls" he derides can accurately discern between manhwa and real life while he can't, apparently): "it's not bl, it's horror (even though it's labeled as bl on lezhin, and a story can be a psychological/horror romance)," "it makes girls/women think relationships like this is okay in real life," "it's horrible that women like this because they're hurting queer men," "women are awful fetishists abusing queer men because they like bl" "bl is made for women, which makes it inherently lesser as an art form because it isn't OwnVoices," etc. (interestingly, when it's a bl he likes, it isn't subject to his accusations of icky "fetishization" like in the case for painter of the night and banana fish). he also once made a video about danmei, chinese bl, where he only uses definitions and materials associated with japanese bl and never once mentions the term "danmei," while also implying live action adaptations of bl should be remade in the usa or canada because it would be better/free of censorship when discussing the untamed/mdzs. that's not even getting into all the plagiarism debacles (though, it's likely that if you heard him say something astute about queer media in a video, it was likely plagiarized from a far more intelligent person's academic article. so, i guess just read more free articles.).

i now use creators' opinions on bl as a sort of litmus test for whether or not i want to support them because it falls on the perfect intersection of several topics. somerton, unfortunately, falls in line with the purity culture-touting, misogynistic, xenophobic people he claims to be against. krizpnatz is a channel i'd recommend that free of all that, but like that other anon said, if what they said were actually transgressive, it wouldn't be promoted by google. just read more articles and make more fandom friendships, i guess.

--

Yeah, I was going to say!

I'm not super familiar with him, but I recall checking out a couple of videos and being really turned off.

He's been accused of plagiarism a zillion times too.

[ruan566]

Am I the only one fed up with the constant comparison between mdzs and tgcf?

When I first found out about tgcf I checked the comments to see how it was recieved by the other readers and oh my Xian Le! The whole review section was filled with people saying that it wasn't on par with mdzs! Mdzs was the first danmei book I read (couldn't ever finish it I just can't read after the confession scene I did not like the romance part a lot) and while it isn't my favourite I liked the plot so I kept myself away from tian Guan ci fi. And then after 2 years I saw its donghua airing and I thought if a donghua was being made then surely it couldn't be that bad and that was when I actually fell in love with the masterpiece this book is. I wouldn't mind if people had any actual complaints about the book but just because it's theme are not similar to mdzs that's insane. It's like you hate a mango for not being an apple. I'd like to hear everyone's opinion since I've seen this happen for way toooo long and heard absolutely no one complain against it, so is it just me who finds it problematic?

(Sorry for the rant it's just been upon my chest too long.)

both the books are brilliant in themselves and have their own shortcomings. I've never been much of a fan of mdzs but it's plot it's characters and their motivations are brilliantly written is something I would never counter. Tgcf on the other hand is not so based on people's motivations rather their reactions. How they react in certain situations and what those reasons cause. As much as I am in love with tgcf it has its own shortcoming but the very reason I love tgcf is that even with those shortcomings it makes itself a very very enjoyable and through read.

Both the books may appear similar at surface but they have very very different themes. As I said previously mdzs is more on people's motivations to do what they must. It's like you have to do what you must to survive it raises questions such as if you did what you did to survive then can what you did really be condemned since that at that point of time was the only thing you could've done. So condemning that is not right.

While tgcf on the other hand is more based on the reactions people have with their own situations and then those reactions affect things. It raises questions as what is truly correct? How do you condemn someone when what they did was truly justified by their point of view during the time that decision took place. Do you punish them? But if they were not even aware of those matters then how can they be at fault? Being oblivious while cannot be a defense in law it's a huge set back in life.

(Sorry for the rant~ haha I swear there's something wrong with me just can't seem to stop typing about books once I start.)

(I posted this on reddit too but ....people just don't stop the comparison, in a very unhealthy way.....)

#hualian #mdzs #hua cheng #xie lian #tgcf #wangxian #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #tian guan ci fu #heavenly official's blessing #mxtx

[hellinglaozu]

hi there! i just wanted to say thank you so so much for putting those scars on lwj and being so open to talking about it. when i first saw that band au art (i think it was the day you posted it), i only recognized his top surgery scars, and it filled me with so, so much joy. tonight, i found out about the phalloplasty scar and just did so much research about it and i am crying tears of joy as i write this. i only ever heard about people talking about top surgery scars so i thought that was my only option as far as that all goes. it's silly now that i think about it, that i never did more research, but in a family that has no other queer or trans individuals in it (afaik) and with not that many trans friends, i just assumed that was it. i don't know if i could ever personally afford it unfortunately, but just knowing it is an option at all makes me feel so much elation. sorry this got a bit rambly haha. thank you so much again for being so open about it. i love love love your art and i can't wait to see more of your trans lwj soon 💖

Hi!! I’m glad you enjoyed the art so much, I’m honestly still amazed how much it was found worth a second look😂 That being said, I’m extremely happy and honoured regardless that my silly danmei fanart served as a segue into being informed of this option for you.

I really hope they bring the cost down too, it’s hindering case numbers stacking up which is the only way the technology improves and becomes more accessible. Fingers crossed!

Btw, you’re free to consider any of my fanarts as trans. Scar or not. I made it on the nose for pride art, but it’s not like people walk around undressed to show off their scars (maybe someone does, good for them), and not all scars are always clearly distinguishable. They won’t be so visible anyways if my hopes come true and the procedure advances in the future. I hadn’t feel the need to announce this publicly but might as well since we’re on the topic😆

#asks answered #helling talks

[defeateddetectives]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

thank youuu @coquelicoq for the tag! yes this is an entire month late because of who i am as a person :'D

3 ships you like: actually gonna give some real estate to the ones i have NOT been rotating nonstop on this space like a rotisserie chicken lately to mix things up!

1) hiyakawa/mikado (the night beyond the tricornered window) - a plug for my tiny, spooky, hilarious and obscure af manga series that blindsided me with its pathos (and because i want everyone to read it and then create some very niche fan-content for me specifically! :D wait who said that!) emotionally oblivious loser 4 emotionally oblivious loser!!! except they're emotionally oblivious in fun, complementary ways! their whole journey is absolutely bonkers and unexpectedly heartfelt, and yes, exorcism should be this hot always!

2) natsume/tanuma (natsume yuujinchou) - i know that no one will believe me when i say that this is still THE natsume yuujinchou ship to me at the end of the day! something something if i loved it less i might be able to talk about it more! but lonely kids finding one another and making each other's lives SO MUCH BETTER solely for existing in each other's orbit and being such a paragon of healthy, functional communication and trust and growing connection that still floors me to this day (and with such courage and eloquence that most adults still cannot manage...i say...sideeyeing two v specific adults)!!! theirs was the thread that pulled me into the series to begin with (i literally just watched all the tanuma eps on first pass) and i'm still so grateful for them and everything about them

3) jack rackham/anne bonny (black sails) - platonic/queerplatonic/romantic/whichever combo or other nebulous way you slice it! THE soulmates of all time that haunt me on the regular and really said to the audience: watch us take your expectations and definitions and parameters of love, joyfully smash it to smithereens, and create something so tremendously unrecognizable and beautiful. truly partners till they put us in the fucking ground!!!

first ship ever: the first fanfic i stumbled upon in my life featured taichi and yamato from digimon adventure. i still remember this because it was interspersed with an edit of yamato in a dress and posted on ye olde personal webpages and shown to me by a school friend, both of us looking like the :o face incarnate. we were Babies. it was a Time. i don't even think i knew what a ship was at the time but hashtag formative things!

last song you heard: it's been a grimes & janelle monae - venus fly kinda day

favourite childhood book: soft spot for whitechurch by chris lynch forever. i think i read it maybe in high school? it rewired my brain and is probably a huge part of why i am the way i am/write the way i do subconsciously.

currently reading: does vi bullying me into danmei count? in which case, global examination....at snail's pace. in this house we love and appreciate a good arson!

currently watching: recently started rewatching the original a:tla for the first time since it finished airing after trying and failing miserably with the live action :( only a few episodes in but augh its still so good and some things hit even harder with foreknowledge. there will never really be another character arc like zuko's ever again.

currently consuming: a smoothie! i've discovered i am a fan of almond butter when dunked in a blender with berries, yogurt and milk. 11/10 would recommend!

currently craving: earlier today i was daydreaming of bbq so let's go with that

super low pressure tagging @endless-season @half-infinite @argyros @fadedclxssic @caroline-hill @kastellaran @doubleboyfriend @constastan @spookirou and as always, everyone is welcome to steal

#memetime

[ineffable-opinions]

Unknown - Review

An adaptation that worked better for me than the source work, to an extent.

Priest is a highly regarded danmei author. When I discovered the author through fans, I really wanted to partake in all that awesomeness too. But time and time again, Priest’s writing style failed to resonate with me. I could never immerse myself in any of her works, truly get into them, be moved by characters and their action. Nothing Priest ever wrote seem to impact me. I always felt like I was at bus stop waiting for a bus that would take me to a destination that everyone else seemed to be able to reach and praise so highly about. I would board every bus that said it would take me to my destination but somehow, I couldn’t reach there.

When live-action adaptations came out, I chased them, in multiple languages (I tried Mandarin, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam in that order; Indian language dubs can be found on MX player). But then even Malayalam dubbed version of Word of Honor was a chore and I gave up.

When I heard of Unknown based on 大哥 (da ge; Big Brother) (a work I found reprehensible at certain points due to pretty normalized racial and heterosexist psychological depictions) I had no interest in checking it out. Things couldn’t be so simple. I heard Huang HongXuan (Kurt) was going be in it. Now, I must watch it for he had rizz in spades in VIP Only and I wanted more of that. (Spoiler alert – I think the Unknown by focusing on Wei Qian missed out on cashing that sweet charisma except for glimpses of it in the last few episodes.)

That’s how I ended up watching Unknown in the first place. It is safe to say I am glad I did. I never thought Da Ge will become something like this. I am impressed by the meticulous cultivation that source material underwent. That little carp really crossed the gate to become a dragon.

Da Ge is a popular and critically-acclaimed work. IMHO, it was for most parts a classist, 金手指 (golden finger) plot with half-baked versions of then popular danmei tropes. For context (I don’t want to say comparison), 弟弟 (didi; younger brother) by 人体骨架 came out in 2011, two years before Da Ge. In BL, newer don’t necessarily mean better. 

What Unknown managed to do was tone down the golden finger bits and keep things realistic to an extent.

Wei Qian got the funds he dearly needed not from killing and snitching on gangsters but from gang-boss Le ge who was Dr. Lin’s senior. Le ge defied some gang codes and sorta wronged his own underlings to that the plot can turn in favor of Wei Qian. The whole triad bit was decent enough that I didn’t mind the snitching part much – I chose to ignore it.

Removed three female characters who were there for man-pain purposes in the novel. Instead gave Wei Lili, pavam xiao baobao, time to shine.

Did not airlift Wei Qian into the waiting arms of a benefactor with sufficient connections in Mainland who would rescind everything in grief, right when Wei Qian could take over and reign. Instead, Unknown let Wei Qian build a company with San Pang and Lao Xiong which fits right into Taiwan’s SME-heavy capitalism.

Didn’t include anything that I found reprehensible in the novel.

Gave relatively explicit intimate scene.

Toned down novel Wei Qian’s Valliettan-aura to build a warmer, more sensible relationship between the Wei siblings.

Made passing mentions of novel events, in ways that was more connected and believable.

Didn’t make villains into caricatures who loose brain cells to benefit Wei Qian. Instead fleshed out Le ge and his relationship with both his underling and his junior. Made him interesting.

Got us a character with blacked out tattoos. I have listed this one at the last but this is the best thing about Unknown for me. Here’s why…

While organized crime is a popular setting in BL, it is rare for BL characters to have visible evidences of their criminal pasts after leaving it for a civilian life. Usually, they either hide it with full-sleeves and what-nots. But here’s a character in a BL with blacked out tattoos trying to make a living through street-vending. Tattoos are customary, ceremonial and meaningful in the context of organized crime, triad in this case. While involved in the triad, tattoos signal trust and loyalty, etched into skin. But it is a burden too. It is part of the cage that leaves no way out. As Le ge’s underling emphasizes, it is not easy to get away having once involved oneself with the triad. Moreover, the tattoos evoke fear among civilians – so ex-gangsters can forget prospects of finding jobs. Even if one is to be self-employed, tattoos doesn’t signal anything good and are effective in scaring customers away. In Unknown, the blacked-out tattoos signal a dark past he has shut door to; all symbolisms that meant something in the context of triad has been wiped out by ink.

There are points where I felt Unknown was rush through the plot, some others which I felt drag. But overall, it was a good BL and a surprisingly enjoyable adaptation of a source novel I didn’t enjoy at all.

#unknown #unknown series #unknown bl #taiwanese series #taiwanese drama #taiwanese bl #taiwan bl #bl drama #unknown the series #bl shows #bl series #關於未知的我們 #大哥 #danmei #boys love #bl review #bl analysis #unknown the series analysis #unknown the series meta #priest novels #unknown the series spoilers #chinese bl #chinese queer culture #danmei tropes #danmei novels #bl tropes #bl trivia #bl taiwan #unknown bl review #unknown bl analysis

[chen-chen-chen-again-chen]

Hi, hello, hola, it's me! This is not a WIP Wednesday post (well, the WIP is always me), but it's something.

First off, thank you thank you thank you to all the beautiful people who messaged me, or commented, or tagged me in things, or even just thought kind warm thoughts at me while I've been away and not writing. Brain not working good enough to sort through the things and tag properly but you know the drill - I love you all.

Here are things I did while I wasn't writing AKA while I have Big Sad Brain:

I visited London, and had a great time - eating delicious food, flat-sitting, visiting old haunts, picking up new ones, spending time with friends, and watching too much Shakespeare. The salted beef bagels in Brick Lane are still unparalleled, there were daffodils everywhere, and I brought home too much tea but not enough biscuits.

I buzzed my hair short again, and as EarlobeGreyTea said, "it really moved your energy from bisexual to lesbian," and then followed up with, "I'm glad that I, a man, could explain your sexuality to you"

I read a lot. I read The Locked Tomb series (I'm obsessed) and fell down a danmei pit (I have consumed SVSSS and MDZS but not yet TGCF) and I have spicy hot takes on why I did not enjoy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or The Starless Sea. I re-read all of Ann Leckie's books. I read The Future is Disabled in a Socialist bookshop in London, and I cried so fucking hard that the gentleman in the shop asked me if I was okay. I read The Song of Achilles and Circe and wandered down the labyrinth of getting really, really into Greek myth.

Speaking of: I bought an ROG Ally (horrible name, hate it, but the console itself is fine, it's like a more versatile Steam Deck) and I played Hades. So much Hades. So. Much. Hades. And every time I met Patroclus in Elysium, I bawled, "He's so SAD! He's such a SAD MAN! I need to make him UN-SAD!"

I finally finished the godforsaken Totoro cross-stitch pictured above. As soon as I framed it, I held it up to my spouse and said, "Could a depressed person make THIS?" and he said, "Yes" and then "Good job," because he's a lamb.

When I had energy, I cooked. I learned how to make carrot ginger dressing and shogayaki, and how to velvet pork. I made some of my standbys, like applesauce pancakes and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and felt very Smug and Very Adult for putting frozen cookie dough into my freezer so Future Me could have cookies. I introduced my family to Uncle Roger and I've never heard my mother (1) get so angry and (2) laugh so hard. When I couldn't cook, I ate food that someone else made, and it was enough to celebrate: I ate a meal! I ate food! I fed a me! Hooray!

I spent time with my beautiful friends. I spent time with my beautiful family. They are so good and they have been with me through so many tough things and depressive episodes, through bullshit and drama and tears, like that time I screaming-yelled at someone over the phone (they deserved it) during an engagement party at the cabin and then I had to walk out and pretend to be Normal and got drunk on a lot of Old Fashioneds.

I grew things. Flowers and vegetables and herbs and I accidentally made a great home for some very invasive weeds. The squirrels left only one sunflower alone (they ate the rest), but even now in mid-October, there are still bright coral-red flares of peppery nasturtium, and feathery pale pink zinnias from my caretaker at work (who is an angel), and gigantic, blue-tipped borage. My best friend moved in down the street from me, so she's only a five-minute walk away, and now I can pick flowers and stick them in a vase and walk them over to her, and I love it. I grew too many tomatoes (they got..... scary. My favourite were the heirloom tomatoes, as big as my fist, that remind me of my Lolo) and forgot about the cucumbers (they got lewd) and let myself get coaxed into growing three different kinds of mint: chocolate, grapefruit, and berries & cream (because I'm a little lad who loves berries and cream).

I bullied my spouse into watching Practical Magic with me the other evening and every time That Fucking Cop came on screen, he said, "That Fucking Cop! This movie would be good but there's too much of That Fucking Cop in it" and I felt so v i n d i c a t e d

I tried to write. I tried to write. I tried to write. I tried to write, and then let go of trying to write and just let myself do all the other things that make up living, try to amend the soil so that something good can grow there again. I tried to talk myself out of unhappiness but it's funny how that doesn't work, how only hard-fought kindness has helped me trudge out of the swamp, again and again and again.

I had one of those moments recently that felt like it could have been in one of my stories. At Thanksgiving dinner, I was sitting next to my little half-sister-in-law (a mouthful, I know). She is seven and she lost her dad two years ago and she said, "I wish my dad was here." And I said, "I know, honey. I think we all do." And she said, "I miss his piano playing," because her dad used to play piano the other way someone else might doodle on a napkin - absentmindedly, brilliantly, while wearing a faded green apron and with a dishtowel thrown over his shoulder, in between checking if the roast was up to temp and pouring someone a glass of wine. Always red wine, from the Piedmont region, which is where my spouse's Nonna is from. I asked my little half-sister-in-law, "Do you think you'll learn how to play piano?" and she said, "I don't know," and I said, "It's okay not to know." And then she asked, "Do you have a Gothita?" and we went back to talking about Pokemon, which we had been talking about for a conservative 90% of the dinner.

I wrote this. I wrote this and it felt good to feel my fingers moving, it felt good to have words spilling from me, it felt good to have faith in words again, that the words could be something good, could do something good, that the worlds could just be and it could be good, and that I could just be, and that could be good. Just being could be good. Even if I never wrote another word ever again, just being would be good. As I said to one of my friends many years ago during some deep dark down shitty times, "It's hard work, being human. Thank you for doing the work."

Take care. I love you all. ❤️❤️❤️

#long post #ramblings #trying to get back on my bullshit

[hamliet]

weird how alice degraded bl and yet their hs has a ton of bl tropes there

I mean, yeah. It's white privilege and ignorance at its finest. I've talked about this at length before, actually.

It's kind of a disservice to Asian BL not only by appropriating its tropes, but also just sheer privileged bliss. People in communities that are not as progressive on LGBT rights are not only less likely to be able to come out, but also less likely to be able to even explore their sexualities and gender identities. It's easier to just conform and to not think of desire and what it means, especially when we think of sexuality as a spectrum.

It also ignores older queer media in the west that has influenced BL, which was influenced by yaoi, which itself emerged as a distinct market/genre in the 1970s. Nothing's as insular as it appears; for example, Queer as Folk (the 2000 US version) is reportedly huge in China today, and I can see that it's influenced Kinnporsche and danmei novels. QaF also was the first US media ever to show sex between two men on TV--in December 2000.

Yeah. We're not even 23 years out from that.

But of course, explicit sex scenes between two men or two women have existed long before that in yaoi, which itself draws from literary and artistic traditions across the world that have existed from ancient times, because gay people have existed from, y'know, ancient times.

I don't want to keep harping on AO, though. I hope they learn, and the posts were from over a year ago, so I'm hopeful they are in the process of doing so. Though I don't really keep up with them. The reason I also can't be too hard on AO was that even 7 or so years ago, I would have agreed with them about yaoi because I didn't know any better. And I was wrong, and I am still learning, and I hope I will continue to learn.

I'll again also reiterate that I do not care at all that Heartstopper has no sex in it; good for them because not all stories need it! Sweet, innocent stories have their place and can be just as powerful and necessary as those that are darker and more explicit. I just think declaring that a story's lack of queer sex is somehow revolutionary is ignorant at best and rewriting history at worst.

I'll leave off with this portion of an interview with the creators of the American QAF, who are themselves a married gay couple who have been together for like... 30? years. I'm bolding the parts I want to emphasize.

COWEN The first time we heard about Queer as Folk was in the Calendar section of the L.A. Times. The whole article was about [how] no one will ever have the g ts to do a show like this in the U.S. People thought [the US version] was going to be a much softer show than Russell’s [original British version], and we knew it had to be outrageous and more sexual. The sex on our show probably was the most political statement we made. Because we all grew up seeing gay people represented on TV — if they were ever represented — [as] eunuchs or clowns. We never saw gay people having a sex life or being complete people. We had a list of subjects that we were determined to write about because we grew up at a very inhospitable time in the U.S. Not just the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but we didn’t have gay marriage here until 10 years after the show ended.

LIPMAN ... We wanted our Queer as Folk to be a celebration of being. We saw movies and TV shows where gay people would hang themselves; they’d walk into the ocean to drown. We didn’t want any of that. We used the sex on the show to be joyous, angry, vindictive, self-destructive …

COWEN … and celebratory. There were so many topics that we needed to address because it was such a politically oppressive, scary time....

DUNN That also was the only representation that I saw: It was suicide or it was Disney villains. That was queer representation for me, and so seeing this show that was just so irreverent, so joyful, so sexual, so free, and it still dealt with the realities of being queer.

Every story is in a sense a product of its time, and it's not bad that Oseman is writing their story to address concerns they have and issues they deal with. It's just not inherently any more revolutionary and definitely not more inherently moral than queer media with sex in it.

#ask hamliet #qaf #kinnporsche #danmei #sexuality

[zhongwans]

hi, this is very random, but have you heard of the drama stay with me? i am so confused how this passed censorship, did the rules change?

I don't think so. Stay With Me is operating on grey area rn because despite the show being a Chinese production with Chinese actors, it's actually not officially available in China. You can only stream it on overseas platforms.

The show is Youku's but apparently you can't even stream it on the international Youku app. The international app is different from the one that can be accessed in China and often have different contents. Eg. the international IQIYI and Tencent apps have BL in them (as in, straight up BL. Like Kinnporsche levels of BL) but the versions of the apps that are accessible within China don't have these. So if Youku isn't even putting the show on the international app and chose to pawn it off to Viki and Gagaoolala instead, then we can assume that they felt it was not totally safe.

I'm not sure if this is an actual rule but it's always been widely understood that if a show does not get approved in China, then it does not air at all. Even in overseas platforms. That's why it's moot for people to beg for HYX or SPL to be bought by Netflix or Viki or whatever, because the production would probably not want to risk getting into trouble for flouting censorship laws like that. So I'm not sure what the situation with Stay With Me is but it probably helps that it's a smaller production with newbie actors. And I haven't watched the show yet but I doubt they'll go too far with it in terms of explicitness because I remember a while back there was a mini webseries (by Bilibili I think) that had a kiss scene between two male characters. The kiss scene was only included in the international version but it got quite a lot of attention within China that it was eventually excised from the international version too.

Censorship in China is an ever shifting landscape. You just never fucking know tbh. Just remember the golden rule: the more visible to the mainstream something is, the stricter censorship will be. That's why you can get away with certain things in audio dramas and webnovels that you can't in live action dramas. And that's why smaller dramas can get away with certain things that S+ class dramas with big names can't. But in general, I doubt that policies regarding BL will get better anytime soon, especially if even animated danmei adaptations are being kept from airing and stricter policies are being enforced on BL audio dramas and manhuas.

[tcfactory]

I need to straighten out my tags, but if people haven't noticed yet: hi, I'm falling pretty hard into a danmei rabbit hole.

Still loving ffxiv! Never abandoning those blorbos, they give me so much joy you wouldn't believe it. But most of my faves have been phased out of the MSQ (don't get me to start talking about Zenos because I'm still angry about how he was handled), I have mixed feelings about EW (the emotional beats hit, for the most part, but when I got thinking about it, some parts of the story really didn't work well for me, especially gestures at everything Hydaelyn and her bullshit) and right now we are facing like a half-year content drought so like...

...yeah. Interests wander. And I want to be more active about posting stuff. Maybe ramble once in a while. Share ideas that I don't have the spoons to write right now, maybe they end up inspiring someone or just entertain them in case I ever get around to writing them. That sort of thing.

I have some interest in BG3 stuff too, but my interests there are like. 300% tied up in this very self-indulgent reincarnation into time travel fix-it AU Emperor/Ansur fic I'm working on and the fandom as a whole really didn't endear itself to me, so I probably not going to make much noise about that save for reblogging some art. Idk

Anyway, I'm kind of rereading SVSSS because it's one of the few books I have on my e-reader, so it's perfect to read in-between classes and I got infected with all the brainrot - QiJiu, MoShang, I would sell Tianlang Jun for a cornchip and listen to him whine about it for the next century, that sort of thing. I'm still warming up to Bingmei, currently kinda lukewarm on the guy. I have a kind of embarrassingly long outline for a potential fic I might share if I ever work up the courage to it, it has literally everyone in it shadjfjsahfgds.

And I really need to read Devil Venerable again. And yell about it. And maybe draw for it, like a lot. I heard before I picked it up that Cyan Wings writes really good funny books and like, hell yes, 200% can confirm. Also this is the most ace xianxia novel I have read - admittedly haven't read that many yet, but still, damn, hats off to the author. Peak "Wtf is this romance shit?" "Idk, but you can't stab it so it's not my problem." vibes. Someone please give Zhongli Qian a raise, my guy is doing so much work to be the one sane, rational person in this mess.

#ooc

[gelatomesomeironqrow]

I havent read or watched many danmei but these are my favorites.

My absolute favorite has to go to:

TGCF (Tian Guan Ci Fu) otherwise known as Heaven Official's Blessing. I cant wait for the live action, Eternal Faith.

I finally caught up with the official English translations and am not so patiently waiting to read the final volume. I'm not sure how I feel about China's revised form of the series (so much more censored from what I've heard)

But hey, at least I have season 2 coming out in a few days.

My favorite character by the way, is somehow Yin Yu (maybe I just relate to him in so many ways), followed extremely closely by He Xuan.

My next favorite is MDZS (Mo Dao Zu Shi) or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Or the live action: The Untamed.

This series has a special place in my heart and got me through the pandemic, as it did many other people. I've read and watched all the forms of story telling.

My favorite character, much like everyone else's is Wei Wuxian. There is just something about unreliable narrating/story telling that I just love. Besides, who doesnt love reading about a disaster Bisexual?

My next favorite danmei is Zhen Hun or Guardian.

I first watched this live action way before the pandemic and could never find a good or completed english translations online so I promptly left the danmei world until 2020.

Once again, I love the disaster bisexual trope.

My baby: Zhao Yunlan

This one really surprised me with how much I enjoyed both the live action and the danmei itself. I need an official English translation in book form to add to my collection.

Tian Ya Ke aka Faraway Wanderers aka Word of Honor.

My favorite character, of course the marvelous Wen Kexing.

That's about as far as I have gotten into the danmei world. I know there is a lot of really good and really questionable danmei out there to read. But these four are probably never going to leave my favorites list.

I have started reading a controversial/questionable danmei.

ErHa/2Ha.

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun.

I've just read volume one of the official English translations. I quite enjoyed it. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and I get that. It's quite a triggering read. So if you choose to read it. Use caution.

Apparently this series is also getting a live action, Immortality.

I'll let everyone know how I feel about it once I'm done reading it. I know I've said that before in other blog posts. I have moods, I go through phases, I'm discovering I'm neurodivergent and possibly adhd so I just go with the punches.

Also what is everyone's thoughts on Thousand Autumns? I've had the first volume sitting in my cart for months now.

#tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #zhen hun #guardian danmei #tian ya ke #faraway wanderers #word of honor #the untamed #erha he ta de bai mao shizun #the husky and his white cat shizun #danmei #xianxia #gelato blogs

[princess-of-purple-prose]

Hiiiii :3

I'm only on chapter seven of venerable demon also want to know and I began to read it without knowing anything about it, but it's a simple enough plot:

Is a Chinese novel with elements of cultivation sects (there's a name of that but I really can't remember it at the moment) but it's BL (or danmei? I'm not sure which is the correct term)

Is about a evil powerful demon lord™ who by accident found a romance novel in which he is one of the many love interest, is the "second one the one who never gets the girl and who all the readers love and support" but the thing is...

That the novel fucking sucks, the female protagonist is abused and mistreated by the love interest No.1 and still she love him to the point to give up godhood to be with him even tho he cheat on her and keep being a dick, so now the venerable demon has the duty to fix it.

In the process he find out that this naive protagonist was a goddess in her past life who in a way help him to become the great demon lord who is now, so he decide to help her too to regain her godhood and don't give up to it for a man.

My favourite part is that there's also the second in command of the demon, his loyal guard who is so obsessed with become stronger to protect his master and considers himself nothing but a sword, he's the "put your dog in a leash" kind of guy a the locked tomb cavalier kind of guy and I love him very much.

Is also kind of metafiction and is light and fun.

(but if we are talking about recommendations I could talk hours about "the scum villain self saving system" and "grandmaster of demonic cultivation")

OOOOH!!! That DOES sound super fun, ty for sharing!!! I've also def heard good things about svsss and mdzs, they're both half on my list for later hehe

#asks #little-lamb-lyosha #kay talks #sorry for taking so long to get to this :(( i hope you're well!!! #<- WHAT THE FUCK LYOSHA I'M SO SORRY I THOUGHT THIS POSTED TWO DAYS AGO AND IT WAS JUST IN DRAFTSSSSS #DOUBLE APOLOGIES!!!!