#character: mu ge

[tossawary]

I'm enjoying this "Yue Qingyuan sent Shang Qinghua to go spy on Luo Binghe after Shen Qingqiu's death" AU, because I love it when background characters have their own goals and business, are fighting with each other, and are doing wild shit on purpose. Even if you're doing an AU (as per canon to our knowledge) where Shang Qinghua is not a double agent - and is just fleeing to the Demon Realm because he was found out as a traitor and/or decided that it was time to dip because the protagonist and Cang Qiong Mountain Sect are now in semi-open conflict - the question remains for exploration:

Why did Yue Qingyuan not go to Huan Hua Palace and try to kick Luo Binghe's ass to get Shen Qingqiu's body back?

It's suggested at several points that Tianlang-Jun at the height of his power was stronger than Luo Binghe, and Yue Qingyuan was part of the team that helped to seal Tianlang-Jun. Shen Yuan suggests that the original Luo Binghe had to bait Yue Qingyuan into a death trap of ten thousand arrows because Bing-ge (even with the Xin Mo Sword at this point) didn't want to face Yue Qingyuan head-on. (I think Bing-ge sent SQQ's legs to YQY or something.) Yue Qingyuan is willing to draw Xuan Su for SQQ and Liu Qingge is willing to help (although LQG might be mad that YQY let SQQ go to the Water Prison at all). YQY versus LBH is not a totally unbalanced fight.

It's possible that Yue Qingyuan didn't go fight because he kind of shut down due to grief. Shen Qingqiu has changed in recent years and died in a very sudden, very shocking, very confusing way. YQY also has a sect to look after and maybe he can't fully justify going out and escalating the conflict over a dead body (as opposed to a live hostage), and possibly get himself killed, when he's maybe hoping that Cang Qiong and Huan Hua can settle this without further death. The other peak lords all must have opinions on this and are probably pulling him in all sorts of directions. By Liu Qingge's account, Yue Qingyuan probably knows that Shen Qingqiu intentionally died for Luo Binghe and he knows that SQQ loved his disciple, so maybe he wants to respect SQQ's sacrifice and affection by not trying to kill Luo Binghe. When Luo Binghe invades Cang Qiong for SQQ's body (and Shen Yuan), Yue Qingyuan has to dangerously abort cultivation in the Ling Xi Caves to come face him, so it's possible that YQY had decided 5 years in that peaceful resolution was impossible and was gearing up to fight Luo Binghe, only to be a victim of bad timing (Liu Qingge's unexpected success in body retrieval).

It could be a combination of these reasonings! People do things for lots of different reasons and this is an emotionally charged situation which puts Yue Qingyuan in a complicated political position.

So, yeah, it could also be that Mu Qingfang came back from his kidnapping saying, "Luo Binghe was repairing Shen Qingqiu's body, trying to summon his soul, and was researching resurrection techniques when I was there," and Yue Qingyuan decided to just... sit back and see where that went. If Liu Qingge (who is probably NOT happy that YQY isn't throwing down already) succeeds in retrieving the body, fine, that's good enough, but if Luo Binghe succeeds in bringing Shen Qingqiu back...? Well, that's also good, isn't it? Yue Qingyuan can outsource the "go mad with grief and engage in crimes against the natural order" to someone else here.

I mean, I really don't think that Yue Qingyuan was actively PLANNING for Luo Binghe to resurrect Shen Qingqiu. That seems a little too wicked and scheming to be his main motivation here. But I do think he might have been... vaguely aware of this potential consequence of his inaction, this possible side effect of his paralyzing grief causing him to be hands-off about the situation and/or his cautious approach to peace negotiations, and I really don't think that he minds that Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang succeeded in bringing Shen Qingqiu back. (I do think he kind of wishes that the Shen Jiu who remembers him had come back instead, though.)

#tossawary svsss #spoilers #character death #yue qingyuan #yue qingyuan and shang qinghua double agent au #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #mu qingfang #liu qingge #violence #pidw luo binghe #tianlang jun #shen jiu #shen yuan

[gaywarcriminals]

Once finally left alone, Shen Qingqiu resisted the urge to snoop for all of 20 minutes. Look, if he was going to be stuck living as this man, he was within his rights to go through the original goods stuff! It was research, really— he was just doing his best to obey the systems draconian demands of staying in character! It was a perfectly sound course of action— Shen Qingqiu just wished he hadn’t started with the bedroom. 

There, in the second drawer Shen Qingqiu gleefully yanked open, was a neatly lined up row of items sealing Shen Qingqiu’s death sentence. Shen Qingqiu wanted to cry as he started at the vials of oils and jar of unguent, the coil of bright red ropes, and most damningly of all, a hyperrealistic dildo carved of black jade, big enough to rival the heavenly pillar. Shen Qingqiu knew the original goods was lascivious, but immortal biding cables? What poor shimei was he forcing??? And that thing: surely it couldn’t fit comfortably inside any woman, at least not without the protagonist’s skills to ease the way! Shen Qingqiu picked up the weapon— there was no better name for it— and wondered if destroying it would spare him any torture. Surely at least a fingernail or two!

“Qingqiu, I forgot to ask, did—“

Shen Qingqiu made a very dignified sound of surprise as Yue Qingyuan entered the room behind him. Yue Qingyuan stopped in his tracks, looking between Shen Qingqiu and the jade monstrosity. Shen Qingqiu opened his mouth to make an excuse, but what could he say? This scene was inexcusable. Dying of mortification was certainly one way of avoiding being human sticked! 

“Qingqiu, you’ve barely gotten out of bed, you can’t possibly be ready for dual cultivation yet. Look how red you are, you must still be feverish.” Shen Qingqiu stared agape as Yue Qingyuan moved too close for propriety and pressed his hand to Shen Qingqiu’s forehead. He hummed consideringly. “I’ll go fetch Mu-shidi.”

“No.” Shen Qingqiu squeaked— the last thing he needed was another witness!

Yue Qingyuan sighed indulgently. “Alright, If Qingqiu is truly in need, this Qi-ge will use his mouth.” 

For the second time that day, Shen Qingqiu fainted.

#don't worry they get SJ a mushroom body or something because SY is not about to leave this beautiful tragic man without a wife #or SY is SJ if that's your speed #I'm writers blocked so I'm grabbing old stupid ideas from my list #svsss #shen qingqiu #yue qingyuan #qijiu #fish fic

[violetdisasterzone]

Luo Binghe & Selflessness

There's a great post by @/jayktoralldaylong talking about how all the love interests in MXTX's novels prioritize the safety and well-being of the MCs rather than prioritizing - or even expecting - their love being returned. And image my surprise when the first reply I see is "Except Binghe. That bitch will sleep with your corpse," with others agreeing and calling him the "worst MXTX character" in the tags. I am yet again asking, did we read the same book? Luo Binghe is just as single-mindedly devoted to Shen Qingqiu as any of the others. Evidence of this is found at every turn during the main plot of Scum Villain: the plot during which he was actively possessed by a sentient evil sword. A sword which in a different timeline - a timeline without Shen Yuan - almost single-handedly turned Luo Bingge into a tyrant. He is under this influence for a majority of volumes 2 and 3 (of the Eng. transl.), which is also when he is accused of being "crazy" or "pushy" in regards to Shen Qingqiu.

Since the reply that inspired this post discussed the 5 years in which Shen Qingqiu was dead, that's what I'll address first. When Shen Qingqiu self-destructs, Luo Binghe is caught extremely off guard. It's easy, I think, to forget or disregard just how awful and confusing the entire novel's events have been for Binghe so far. Accepted to Qing Jing and subsequently horrifically abused for 4 years; a sudden, drastic, unexplained change in Shen Qingqiu and a blissful 3 years of peace; pushed into hell and utterly betrayed in an act of what appears to be very out of character hypocrisy. And when he returns (now in possession of the aforementioned sentient evil sword), he stays away from Cang Qiong and becomes a respectable cultivator in his own right, so that maybe, maybe Shen Qingqiu would accept him once again. And then he runs into Shen Qingqiu enjoying the company of someone who looks exactly like him; yet Shen Qingqiu runs from him, acting as though Binghe is the one who is dangerous, who is going to hurt him. Of course, Shen Qingqiu is justified in his fear, based on his own perceptions of the situation. But Luo Binghe does not know this.

Immediately following Shen Qingqiu's destruction is one of the only times we get a firsthand glimpse into Luo Binghe's perspective. This line is from the moments after he catches Shen Qingqiu's body: "Didn't Shizun hate his blood more than anything? Wasn't he unwilling to even be near him, to associate with him at all?" In the following pages is when he learns, for the first time that "Shizun too was...utterly heartbroken" during his time in the Abyss. When the chapter ends, Luo Binghe is still in utter shock, wiping the blood from Shen Qingqiu's face and trying, uselessly, to explain that he was just angry, that he just wanted to make him happy. We don't see the part of the scene where Luo Binghe leaves with the body, but it is not hard to infer that, in his complete state of denial and shock, his mind recently saved from an agonizing deviation, he was unwilling to part from his Shizun.

During the five years of Shen Qingqiu's absence, Luo Binghe kept his body in as perfect a state as possible. As we see in the Deep Dream extra, Luo Binghe brings Mu Qingfang (who he seems to respect, however minimally) to Huan Hua Pavilion some time after the events of Hua Yue City (which we know because Mu Qingfang expects Shen Qingqiu's body to "have long since festered and decayed"). We, as Shen Qingqiu, then get a glimpse into what Luo Binghe does with the body: he cooks countless meals that will go uneaten, and he transfers qi to prevent that decay. Skin to skin contact is the most direct way to transfer qi, as supported in many other scenes, including the flashback scene in this same extra. This type of qi transfer can also be carried out while sleeping, as evidenced in the Bing-mei vs. Bing-ge extra, providing a regulated stream of spiritual energy for an entire night. As Mu Qingfang said earlier, this uses up "an enormous amount of spiritual power" and is only enough to keep his body protected "for a single day" without reversing everything. Luo Binghe is immensely powerful, but even protagonists are not built to drain themselves every night for 5 years, while also fighting off Xin Mo, running Huan Hua, controlling the demon realm, and NOT giving up on everything. When Shen Qingqiu is thought to be dead in the minutes after Maigu Ridge, Luo Binge "almost tried to follow" him. And yet, when he believed there was even a chance he might return, he held on "for almost two thousand more of these days and nights."

The only other time we see Luo Binghe's interactions with the corpse is when Shen Qingqiu, undiscovered in the plant body, witnesses Liu Qingge's infiltration. In this, it is said that "Luo Binghe was unwilling to harm the corpse, so he could only release it." It's worth mentioning that, if Liu Qingge had managed to take the body back to Cang Qiong - or, what sequence is initiated when he does - it will be given burial rights, it will decay, and Shen Qingqiu will never again have a possibility of inhabiting it. Luo Binghe cannot let this happen; it's not merely about possession or attachment. And yet, he would sooner allow this possibility that allowing even the potential of harm to come to him.

When all is said and done, after Luo Binghe has been broken out of Xin Mo's control and Shen Qingqiu does not die - the first thing he does is return him to Cang Qiong Mountain. When Shen Qingqiu suggests that they leave, together, Luo Binghe is "dumbfounded." He fully expected to be left, for Shen Qingqiu to be unwilling. He would have done anything for Shen Qingqiu and expected nothing in return.

At his core, even under influence and in emotional turmoil, Luo Binghe's love is unfalteringly selfless. There are so many examples of this, both in the main plot and in the post-canon extras, but I think this post is long enough already. Suffice it to say that nothing is more important that Shen Qingqiu to Luo Binghe - least of all himself.

#maiden luo my beloved #minors dni #please don't use this post to try to 'argue' or 'prove me wrong' I dont want to hear it #this is not the place for antis #luo binghe is a good character，a good person，and a *good husband* #I really love him #and so does shen qingqiu! #him waking up after that in the deep dream extra is so soft and sweet #if shen qingqiu understands and isn't weird about binghe protecting his corpse what excuse do you have #he literally said ‟this might look weird，but in reality it's not‟ and some people went ‟this sign won't stop me bc I can't read‟ #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #bingqiu #svsss #svsss meta #scum villains self saving system #ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong #mxtx #洛冰河 #沈清秋 #冰秋 #人渣反派自救系统

[baoshan-sanren]

best cdramas I’ve watched since the last one of these posts in 2023 (and some I’m still looking forward to seeing)

A League of Nobleman (watch on WeTV VIP | watch on AppleTV | watch on Viki | watch on bilibili | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the novel "The Mystery of Zhang Guo" (张公案) by Da Feng Gua Guo (大风刮过) starring Jing BoRan, Song WeiLong, Hong Yao, Guo Cheng and Wang Duo. Definitely gay, but in like a very focused, we-have-a-mystery-to-solve way. Loved the acting and the plot; cannot believe people actually gave Song Weilong shit for his acting in this drama. He was aMAzing. The downside is that the editing grew progressively sloppier as the drama progressed, and although majority of the visuals were very satisfying, I never realized how crappy the quality of the light was until I tried gifing some of the scenes. The upside is Jing BoRan holding kittens. Enough Said. 7/10

The Blood of Youth (watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the novel "Shao Nian Ge Xing" (少年歌行) by Zhou Mu Nan (周木楠) starring Li HongYi, Liu XueYi and Ao RuiPeng. Love this goddamn drama. I adopted the entire cast within the first 3 episodes and then I spent the next 37 terrified that half of them would get killed off. There’s def some major character death in this drama my chickens, so keep that in mind (and not a canonical death either, from what I understand). Anyway, this is my fave genre by far so I’m never really picky, but this drama is exhilarating and gorgeous from beginning to end. Highly recommend. 9/10

New Life Begins (watch on iQIYI | watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the web novel "Qing Chuan Ri Chang" (清穿日常) by Duo Mu Mu Duo (多木木多) starring Bai JingTing and Tian XiWei. Just sweet and fluffy. The plot is easy and devoid of complexities, but very satisfying nonetheless. The acting is definitely on another level. The entire cast has bonkers chemistry, and it’s about time someone made good use of Bai Jingting’s comedy potential. One of the top 5 easy viewing dramas on my rewatch list.  8/10

The Legendary Life of Queen Lau (watch on Viki | watch on YouTube) Adapted from the web novel "Huang Hou Liu Hei Pang" (皇后刘黑胖) by Ge Yang (戈鞅) starring Li JiaQi and Li HongYi. Loved this. Although it doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, this is basically a comedy from beginning to end. Not gonna lie, I mainly gave this a go for Li Hongyi, but it’s hard to even notice him when Li Jiaqi is in the room. There’s no shame in being overshadowed by superior talent :) 7/10

(yeah, after all this, I rewatched Nirvana In Fire again)

Under the Microscope (watch on Apple TV | watch on Bilibili | watch on iQIYI VIP | watch on Viki) Adapted from the novel "Xian Wei Jing Xia De Da Ming" (显微镜下的大明) by Ma Bo Yong (马伯庸) starring Zhang RuoYun and Wang Yang. Continuously impressed by Zhang RuoYun’s skills. This drama is 90% grit and tension. Drool-worthy visuals. Interesting plot. Sound mixing that gives me a Mo Ran style boner. Make your friends watch it and they will hate you. 9/10

Till The End of The Moon (watch on YouTube | watch on Apple TV | watch on Viki) Adapted from the web novel "Hei Yue Guang Na Wen BE Ju Ben" (黑月光拿稳BE剧本) by Teng Luo Wei Zhi (藤萝为枝). Starring Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu. This was so breathtakingly gorgeous. The chemistry between the actors, the visuals, the special effects, the costumes, everything is stunning in this drama. The romance is by no means original, but still manages to draw you in. Absolutely worth watching at least once. 8/10

Still waiting on:

Immortality - based on danmei novel The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by 肉包不吃肉 starring Chen Feiyu and Luo Yunxi (you can think I’m a clown but you’d be wrong bc I’m a wholeass circus)

Winner Is King - based on the danmei novel Sha Po Lang by Priest starring Tan Jianci and Chen Zheyuan

Step By Step Lotus - based on historical novel Return to Ming Dynasty as Prince by 月关 starring Zhang Binbin and Luo Yunxi

Eternal Faith - based on danmei novel Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu starring Zhai Xiaowen and Zhang Linghe

Joy Of Life Season 2 - based on wuxia novel of the same name by 猫腻 starring Zhang Ruoyun and Li Qin

Story of Kunning Palace - based on the novel 坤宁 by 时镜 starring Bai Lu and Zhang LingHe

Flying Phoenix - based on danmei novel of the same name by 風弄 starring Dai Jingyao and Shu Yaxin

The Story of the Bat - based on danmei novel Bat by Feng Nong starring Mao Zijun and Zhang Yao

The Longest Promise - based on xianxia novel Zhu Yan by 沧月 starring Xiao Zhan, Ren Min, and Zhang Yunlong

Mysterious Lotus Casebook - based on wuxia novel 吉祥纹莲花楼 by Teng Ping 藤萍 starring Cheng Yi and Zeng ShunXi

Follow Your Heart - historical drama starring Song Yi and Luo Yunxi 

The Thirteen-Hongs in Canton - historical drama starring Zhu Yawen and Yu Haoming

White Cat Legend - based on manhua of the same name starring Ding Yuxi and Zhou Qi

#cdrama #cdrama recs #long post #m

[asksythe]

Hua Cheng’s Design

Source: 孤世中逢影 Gu Shi Zhong Feng Ying (weibo) on Hua Cheng’s design as based on Miao ethnic group culture - with snippets from a Chinese Documentary on Miao Ethnic People and an interview with Shi sifu, one of the last traditional Miao silversmiths - Sina TV.

 Translator: Sythe / NPD Khanh

Hua Cheng’s character design. As we all know, the image of Hua Cheng was established based on the Miao ethnic group, so let's see the specific origin of things on Hua Cheng’s person.

1. Red umbrella:

The red umbrella in Miao culture is one of the indispensable props at marriage and celebrations. The red umbrella symbolizes great auspiciousness as one’s desires, numerous children and grandchildren, sheltering from the wind and rain, exorcising evil spirits, and shielding people from disasters. All of these together are a perfect fit to represent the blessings of the heavens (Tian Guan Ci Fu, the name of the novel) with no taboos or misfortunes.

At the same time, in the opening episode of Tian Guan Ci Fu, Xie Lian mistook Hua Cheng for a bridegroom ghost. The situation fits perfectly like a miracle as a red umbrella is required for a wedding. 

2. Silver butterfly, maple leaves.

The Miao people have long had an ancient song, "Feng Mu Ge" (Song of the Maple Tree), to praise the beauty of life. The Miao people also consider butterflies as the ancestral mother, who can bless the village to be peaceful, the children to thrive, and the nation to flourish.

Maple leaves and butterflies represent rebirth, and reincarnation. These motifs can be seen in the culture of the Miao people everywhere, from clothes to jewelry to household decorations. The most famous is the Hong He area, located in an autonomous district of the Miao ethnic group in Yunnan. Whether it is nature or people, maple leaves and butterflies are popular, cherished symbols.

ps. The butterfly decoration that the author saw while traveling in Yunnan is also an inspiration.

"When I was traveling in Yunnan, there was a butterfly decoration in front of the hotel elevator,” Mo Xiang looked at it and thought. After a while, she said proudly, "He will raise a kaleidoscope of butterflies." (From MXTX Author’s Notes and Interview) 

3. Silver Jewelry

This goes without saying much, silverware is an important component of Miao culture, "the more beautiful, the better;” "Miao people’s iconic silver jewelry is used to pray for peace and as a token of love or a proposal of marriage.” Speaking of which, Hua Cheng’s character design is based on ethnic Miao people. Of course, the same jewelry is used. The inheritor of the art of Miao silversmithing, Shi sifu, also said, Hua Cheng is steeped in Miao Guang symbolism and aesthetics.

4. Other

If you read the novel, it’s not difficult to figure out:

Huacheng used a red umbrella because when he was young and weak and had nothing. Xie Lian gave him a red umbrella to shield him from the wind and rain.

Hua Cheng uses corral beads because this is one of Xie Lien's lost earrings. In Taoism, coral represents the heart. Taking this into account, Xie Lian in the book had two corral earrings. The implication of this symbolism then becomes quite enticing. 

Hua Cheng strung the red string of fated love because, during the Gentle Fragrance part of the book, Xie Lian gently cut a hair strand and gifted it to him. In our country's traditional culture, tying your hair together represents binding marriage. The red line represents your destined intertwined path.

From the beginning to the end, the author demonstrated the changes in Hua Cheng. "Become a better, stronger person because of him, for him". All of Hua Cheng’s character progressions developed according to the plot, gradually revealing layers of meaning, and not built by forced intention. Therefore, in successfully portraying such a character, the author moved the reader’s heart and created a miracle. 

A Love that is unchanged even in the face of death. 

#MXTX #tgcf #Hua Cheng #Translation #Sina TV

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character do You Most Want to Study Like a Little Bug Tournament Bracket

Starting February 20, 2023 (American time), I'll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu webnovel character the fanbase most wants to study like a little bug.

FAQ:

What do you mean by "most want to study like a little bug"?

Which character makes you want to pick them up, put them in a glass jar, examine them with a little magnifying glass, and poke them with a stick to see how they react? Which character is so so small and pathetic and also truly deeply bizarre? If you don't get what I'm talking about, this poll may not be for you.

Why on earth are you doing sixty-four characters?

A perfectly even bracket has to have 16, 32, or 64 starting contestants, and since there were 33 characters that I really wanted to include, I decided to Commit.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

If you'd like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with "MXTX bugpoll."

You can find the full list of matches under the readmore. Happy voting!

Since there's so many characters, I'll be splitting the first round into two days. Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) will begin tomorrow (Monday), and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side) will be on Tuesday. We'll continue with one round per day from there.

Round 1 Part 1:

Yin Yu vs Gongyi Xiao

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Quan Yizhen

Xuan Ji vs Mei Nianqing (Guoshi)

Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.) vs Pei Ming

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Shi Qingxuan

Jin Ling vs Lang Qianqiu

Ban Yue vs A-Qing

Liu Mingyan vs Lan Jingyi

Mobei-jun vs Lan Wangji

Zhuzhi-lang vs Su She

Bai Wuxiang vs Jiang Fengmian

Jin Zixuan vs Tianlang-jun

Qi Qingqi vs Lan Qiren

Su Xiyan vs Yu Ziyuan

Nie Mingjue vs Mu Qing

Jin Guangyao vs Pei Xiu

Round 1 Part 2:

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Mo Xuanyu

Ning Yingying vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Xiao Xingchen vs Xie Lian

Yue Qingyuan vs Lan Xichen

Ling Wen vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Jiang Yanli

He Xuan vs Nie Huaisang

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Wei Wuxian vs Xue Yang

Wen Qing vs Mu Qingfang

Sha Hualing vs Qi Rong

Song Lan vs Jiang Cheng

Liu Qingge vs Feng Xin

Hua Cheng vs Wen Ning

Ming Fan vs Lan Sizhui

Yushi Huang vs Shi Wudu

Round 2

Yin Yu vs Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.)

Mei Nianqing (Guoshi) vs Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.)

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Ban Yue vs Liu Mingyan

Lan Wangji vs Zhuzhi-lang

Bai Wuxiang vs Tianlang-jun

Lan Qiren vs Yu Ziyuan

Mu Qing vs Jin Guangyao

Shen Jiu vs Ning Yingying

Xie Lian vs Yue Qingyuan

Shang Qinghua vs Jiang Yanli

Nie Huaisang vs Jin Zixun

Wei Wuxian vs Wen Qing

Qi Rong vs Jiang Cheng

Liu Qingge vs Hua Cheng

Lan Sizhui vs Shi Wudu

Round 3

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.)

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Liu Mingyan

Zhuzhi-lang vs Tianlang-jun

Yu Ziyuan vs Jin Guangyao

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Xie Lian

Shang Qinghua vs Nie Huaisang

Wei Wuxian vs Jiang Cheng

Hua Cheng vs Lan Sizhui

Quarterfinal

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

Tianlang-jun vs Jin Guangyao

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Nie Huaisang

Jiang Cheng vs Hua Cheng

Semifinal

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Tianlang-jun

Nie Huaisang vs Jiang Cheng

The Final Round

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Nie Huaisang

#I put a decent amount of thought into how everyone is placed in the bracket #so hopefully it should be balanced #and in the places where it's not even #Then at least the matchups should be funny <3 #mxtx #mdzs #svsss #tgcf #mo dao zu shi #ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong #tian guan ci fu #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #heaven official's blessing #the scum villain's self-saving system #forgive all the tags. but it'll be more fun if more people see this I think #the more votes the better and all that #ID in alt text #mxtx bugpoll

[grungiiuvu]

Hi! Previous anon here! I just rechecked ur blog and i saw u replied to me and ajsjdnkdkdn im so honored u wanna know more abt my culture😭😭😭 but before i start rambling i just wanna say im apart of two chinese clans? Cultures? Idk how to say it but i googled it and its called a province so province it is! My mom is fu jian and my dad is fu jian AND ke jia, but since my grandma's(ke jia) influence is so strong and most of my grandpa's(fu jian) relatives are 💀 i actually have an equal share of both cultures. By that i mean like, two different languages, which are thankfully just spoken, not written, and also lots of different food and pronunciations! For example, instead of hongbao, i say angbao.

Okay, so! I think one of the most prominent things i've grown up with is like, nicknames. And one thing i see is so common in tgcf fanfictions is the "A". Like: A-lian, A-qing, A-xin. Which okay, its actually used but its actually very uncommon(at least where i've grown up). Only person that uses it is my family is like, my grandpa and its to ny grandma. My grandma calls him BY NAME its actually crazy. We tend to use more double names? Idk how to say it but for example Mu Qing would be Qing Qing, Shi Qingxuan would be Xuan Xuan yk? My parents only call me by that, but the purpose of the nick names would be to mostly shorten the names becus most ppl have 3 character names. So unfortunately someone like Xie Lian(who has a 2 character name) would be refered to mostly as Xie Lian and not A-Lian or lian lian😭 And! The "A" prefix isn't only used from the last character! Sqx can also be refered to as A-qing as well as A-xuan, as well as A-qingxuan(its complicated)

For family stuff, younger siblings usually never refer to older ones by name. Like sqx would call swd ge ge, wu du ge, du gege but never outright Wudu.

And i also found out u wrote cheap villain??? I owe everything to you its so WELL WRITTEN?? AND THE PLOT?? ITS SO GOOD KIKE KSJDJD BUTTtttt one thing i've actually wondered is like accents. Like in english, ppl who speak mandarin tend to have accents! And ppl in BeiJing have a very prominent one. First time i tried talking to someone in BeiJing i had trouble understanding cus even tho we were speaking the same language it sounded so different! The tcgf donghua actually sounds a lot more similar to tawainese than like native mandarin cus it sounds so clean cut, if ykwim??? Like the pronunciation in the donghua is GOODDD and so SHARP(i may be jealous). BeiJing mandarin tends to sound more round and so I would've liked to see like, mu qing waking up in a whole new reality, starts speaking, and xie lian is like: "huh? What? Mu qing, SLOW DOWN WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?" I think it would've been funny, in my opinion😭😭 (do i sound fussy again i hope this comes off as light hearted😭)

I MIGHT add more cus theres actually sm more i wanna say but im gonna leave it at here i hope it isn't TOO long😭 ur welcome ti ask me anything u want to know cus I LOVE talking abt my culture!!! Hopefully this isn't too boring for u😭

This wasnt boring at all!!! I love learning about different societies, it really fascinates me!! I'm from England and South Africa, so both my cultures are very modern western (living in the UK doesn't help) so I'm utterly at a loss with Chinese culture aside from deep-diving on the internet and doing my own research lol :')

The nickname thing is very interesting and i didn't know that!! tysm for telling me :D I know I've used it quite a bit in Cheap Villain but i feel I'm too far in to switch it up now TTvTT I don't want to seem like I'm abruptly changing things, and making the story inconsistent!

The stuff about the shi siblings is very helpful!! I shall be sure to remember that 🫡🫡

I've only recently started hearing about the accents thing, I'm afraid :')) If i had known when i first started writing Cheap Villain, I definitely would've done something about it lol! it was such a good joke opportunity missed o(TヘTo) Hopefully, I'll find somewhere to put it in, because that'd be very fun :D

I absolutely loved hearing all this!! feel free to send as many as you'd like :D I am aware I really don't know much about other cultures and I'm always happy to learn more anytime :))

Im so glad you enjoy Cheap Villain!! I've been trying my best haha

tysm anon!! :D

#anon my beloved

[reinaka42]

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) Masterpost

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) is a Vocal synth (Vocaloid and SynthV) music project. It consists of songs themed around different figures throughout Chinese history. The project is a collaboration between different artists and creatives, with music and videos featuring prominent traditional Chinese elements. The project's title translates to "The Records of Magnificence of the Wangchuan" - In Chinese mythology, "Wangchuan" (or River of Forgetting) is a river in the Underworld that can rid one of their past life's memories, similar to the river Lethe.

A mobile game adaptation has also been developed by NetEast. Unfortunately, I haven't played it so I can't give much insight on it. However, I assume that its premise is similar to that of the idea behind the project as a whole: all these historical figures meeting each other in the Underworld after they died. Maybe.

You can find all the songs on Bilibili. The official Weibo can be found here. The game's website, which includes all characters appearing so far in the game, can be found here, and its Weibo can be found here.

(If you prefer YouTube, I've also put together a handy playlist. Please know that most of these videos are reposts though, so please watch the original Bilibili MVs if you can!)

This blog is where I will be posting everything I feel like I need to say about the songs in this project. A lot of it is lifted from my Twitter account but will be in much more detail. Note that I probably won't touch collab songs, or songs that don't focus solely on the project's own characters.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Chinese, nor am I an expert on Chinese history. Therefore, I cannot reliably translate the lyrics to these songs, nor my words should be taken as gospel. I am merely a nerd gushing about my hyperfixation.

Playlist

多情岸 【Duo Qing An】 ➼ B link

洛阳怀 【Luo Yang Huai】 ➼ B link

易水诀 【Yi Shui Jue】 ➼ B link

山河令 【Shan He Ling】 ➼ B link

簪花人间 【Zhan Hua Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

栖凰 【Qi Huang】 ➼ B link

心上秋 【Xin Shang Qiu】 ➼ B link

祖龙吟 【Zu Long Yin】 ➼ B link

如见青山 【Ru Jian Qing Shan】 ➼ B link

竹林间 【Zhu Lin Jian】 ➼ B link

天下局 【Tian Xia Ju】 ➼ B link

青鸟衔风 【Qing Niao Xian Feng】 ➼ B link

木兰行 【Mu Lan Xing】 ➼ B link

好字唯之 【Hao Zi Wei Zhi】 ➼ B link

不可道 【Bu Ke Dao】 ➼ B link

水叙湖风 【Shui Xu Hu Feng】 (collab) ➼ B link

是非 【Shi Fei】 ➼ B link

风起甘露 【Feng Qi Gan Lu】 (collab) ➼ B link

谓剑 【Wei Jian】 ➼ B link

万象霜天 【Wan Xiang Shuang Tian】 (New Year event song) ➼ B link

千秋梦 【Qian Qiu Meng】 ➼ B link

易安难安 【Yi An Nan An】 ➼ B link

惊鹊 【Jing Que】 ➼ B link

高歌破阵 【Gao Ge Po Zhen】 (collab) ➼ B link

不赴 【Bu Fu】 ➼ B link

西行 【Xi Xing】 ➼ B link

大航海家 【Da Hang Hai Jia】 ➼ B link

牡丹乱 【Mu Dan Luan】 (collab) ➼ B link

倾国 【Qing Guo】 (collab) ➼ B link

相虎 【Xiang Hu】 ➼ B link

补天裂 【Bu Tian Lie】 ➼ B link

此期盈期 【Ci Qi Ying Qi】 (1st anniversary song) ➼ B link

破云来 【Po Yun Lai】 ➼ B link

归钓吟 【Gui Diao Yin】 ➼ B link

始见千秋 【Shi Jian Qian Qiu】 ➼ B link

临川浮梦 【Lin Chuan Fu Meng】 ➼ B link

将军行 【Jiang Jun Xing】 ➼ B link

妄语人间 【Wang Yu Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 (2nd anniversary song) ➼ B link

问剑春秋 【Wen Jian Chun Qiu】 ➼ B link

起战令 【Qi Zhan Ling】 ➼ B link

人间应又雪 【Ren Jian Ying You Xue】 ➼ B link

旷古回响 【Kuang Gu Hui Xiang】 ➼ B link

墨隐侠声 【Mo Yin Xia Sheng】 ➼ B link

桃源故人 【Tao Yuan Gu Ren】 (3rd anniversary song) ➼ B link

*Note: The anniversary songs are probably for the game's anniversaries, as the project itself is more than 5 years old.

Albums

Vol 1: 溯洄 【Su Hui】 Includes character songs from Duo Qing An to Zhu Lin Jian. Features human vocals.

Vol 2: 踏浪 【Ta Lang】 Includes character songs from Tian Xia Ju to Jing Que.

Vol 3: 数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 Includes character songs from Bu Fu to Wang Yu Ren Jian, an unreleased song titled 燕双归 【Yan Shuang Gui】, and the two anniversary songs.

Visual character guide:

PRE-QIN | QIN | WESTERN CHU | HAN | THREE KINGDOMS | JIN | NORTH & SOUTHERN DYNASTIES | TANG | FIVE DYNASTIES & TEN KINGDOMS | SONG | YUAN | MING | QING | DREAM

#忘川风华录 #wang chuan feng hua lu #wcfhl #chinese music #vocasynth #vocaloid #synthv #vocaloid project #synth v project #synthesizer v #vocal synths #long post #this is the culmination of a 3 year brainrot #i will try my best

[web-novel-polls]

SVSSS Character Bracket

Round 1

Qi Qingqi vs Bing-ge

Su Xiyan vs Gongyi Xiao

Yang Yixuan vs Ji Jue

Wei Qingwei vs Ming Fan

Yue Qingyuan vs Tianlang-jun

Shen Jiu vs Mu Qingfang

Polls will open tomorrow, Monday, March 20th, 2023, at midnight CST and will remain open for 24 hours.

#svsss character round 1 #svsss character tournament #svsss polls #svsss character bracket #bracket #svsss #scum villain #scum villain's self saving system #svsss character round 1 bracket #no photo id

[greenflamedwriter]

okay I watched a thousand Autumns and really want a PIDW AU of it- I want Shen Yuan who transmigrated into the OG outline of PIDW and its drastically different! With his system telling him what to do he has to apply for a venue- a huge stadium that is hosting a huge event!

Cultivators from all over the world are competing for the Cang Qiong Peak Lord SWORDS!

Yes after Luo Binghe destroyed Cang Qiong and its weilders, he collected the swords and after so many years he mellowed out and held a contest everyone is in a rush to be able to win the competition and be the new wielder of the Xuan Shu sword or Xiu Ya sword and many others.

Only Qi Qingqi, Mu Qingfan and Shang Qinghua were safe as the only remaining survivors so their swords were not part of the contest

which-what!? Shang Qinghua is alive???

Shen Yuan was confused but he was a simple waiter hosting the guests who were obviously enjoying the show and making bets and some even became a bit too handsy with Shen Yuan who smiled.

"Sorry sir, I am a man." And dodged before realising the other was stunned he even ran away, not because of his gender.

Of course the Xiu Ya sword was last and of course the opponent was Luo Binghe- as IF he'll let any nobody earn that sword.

And wait a second- Shen Qingqiu!?

It wasn't him but the man looked like him, a copycat? He heard Luo Binghe laughed as he pointed his sword at the imposter.

"Ming fan, who knew you had such a fascination with Shizun!" Others laughed, and Ming Fans face burned with humiliation.

He revealed his sword and snapped "How dare you still call him shizun, you dog!"

Luo Binghes mirth faded.

Ming fan is alive!? And he looks handsome? Wasn't he supposed to have a tragically plain face-

Shen Yuan kept getting distracted getting scolded from both the system AND his boss! He scowled and continued working then paused to see some suspicious people run towards the back.

Where the swords where stored.

Shen Yuan almost followed then shook his head, nope not his problem if he ignored it

[Warning! User Shen Yuan needs to investiagate and STOP the thiefs from taking the Xiu ya sword!"]

Goddamit!

Shen Yuan approached and was suddenly dragged into a fight, it erupted into a brawl and Shen Yuan fought and realised he knew how to fight- it was strange as his character wasn't important so how comes he was fighting like a martial artist hah!?

And yet one man grabbed a sword and Shen Yuan panicked his hands outreaching and grabbing a ex-peak lords sword to defend himself but everyone stopped at the scream of pain and agony as the thief tried to drop the sword but he collapsed in a pool of his own blood as the Xuan Shu sword destroyed his spirit.

It distracted them from what happened to Shen Yuan his sword vibrated and Shen Yuan was terrified whimpering in fear for the sword to kill him, but it only glowed then disapeared- Shen Yuan absorbed the sword into his body without realising.

The others started fighting and their fight dragged out into the open and he was pushed into the arena as he fought mid flight as they all landed he continued to defend himself not realising that the audiance watched these rat tag groups fight one man and let his moves blocks and defense were in sync with Ming fan.

The audience had no idea who to look at and found that this new upstart was stealing the show!

Until Luo Binghe became in involved as he blocked an attack on one thief his back pressed against Shen Yuans "Thanks-" He spoke and covered Luo Binghe as he continued to fight- then Ming fan was against him!

"What the hell are you doing!?" Ming fan yelled his own hands outreached to grab Shen Yuan.

"A-apologises my lords! This one will take care of them in just a moment sorry to disrupt your fight!" Shen Yuan began to leap into the air and of course the only remaining thieves followed and was able to disarm them and waited for security.

Shen Yuan sighed wiping sweat of his brow and saw how his manager began to apologise to both Luo Binghe and Ming fan and gestured to Shen Yuan up in the stands.

Shen Yuan sighed, time to job hunt...again.

[Mission success! Shen Yuan is awared 100 B points!] Shen Yuan wanted to cry.

[A/n]

So begines the rat race, Shen Yuan has the Xiu Ya sword [Like Shen Qiao with the solarity] So now Shen Yuan has a target on his back in danger all the time and Luo Binghe, intrigued keeps popping up and threatening/flirting with him and demanding that Shen Yuan becomes his disciple-

He's also suspicious as Shen Yuans fighting style is EXACTLY like Qing Jing Peaks fighting- even better than Ming fan, he may look like Shizun but Shen Yuan is more like him. He even used a fan but it was more to hide his repressed smiles than the glowering scowls.

Of course I want this to be OG bingge and have him be really freakin cruel to Shen Yuan and hurt him psychologicaly.

[Extra]

Also a scene where the Xiu Ya sword bursts out to save Shen Yuan [aybe LBH pushes the scenario to make Shen Yuan fight and expose him as his 'shizun'] BUT what they don't expect is that a jade like spirit bursts forth weilding the sword and the spirit that is wispy and flowing like a bamboo leaf is Shen QINGQIU

He's protecting Shen Yuan and embodies the sword as the new spirit.

#Luo Binge #Luo #Binghe #PIDW #Thousand autumn au #I need more donghua #One thats complete at least #Little plot #svsss #SVSSS #scumbag self saving system #scumbag #scum #scumbag system #shen yuan #shen #yuan

[thesummerstorms]

Rev’s Favorite MXTX Fics (1/2)

Heaven Official’s Blessing

’Til our compass stands still by edenwolfie

After getting lost in Ghost City, Xie Lian bargains away years of servitude to the Gambler’s Den to help a man in need. He dons the robes of a worker and hides his face and life behind an enchanted mask, protecting himself from the city's denizens. Xie Lian finds an unexpected home in Ghost City before he ever sees the lord of it, the infamous Hua Cheng. When he finally does, something about himself seems to catch the attention of the Ghost King, slowly striking up an unusual friendship. Xie Lian must figure out how to navigate his burgeoning feelings, how to keep his identity to himself, and how to get over a ghost so clearly in love with someone else.

the ghost king's bride by arahir

Ghosts won't stop giving Xie Lian flowers, Hua Cheng won't stop teasing, and Xie Lian is out here doing his best, man.

Aren't Alright by Boomchick

It’s been over a week since Xie Lian checked in which, for Mu Qing, is about the longest silence since the one that lasted 800 years. He should probably be glad for the quiet, but instead…

Instead he calls in Feng Xin’s help, and goes to see what’s wrong.

He should have expected this, honestly.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing arrive at the house on Mt. Taicang to find Xie Lian 8 years old both in body and mind. The main problem? Xie Lian isn’t the only one who’s 8 years old. What are two gods to do with a Hong Hong-er?

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System:

I Wish You Were My Husband by Feynite

AU based on The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir (familiarity with that story's not required).

Wherein Shen Yuan transmigrates into a harem intrigues romance novel (gay edition), Yue Qingyuan really fucks up, Liu Qingge is not suitable for his job, and no one even remotely sees Luo Binghe coming.

Metagaming by esama

[Self-Saving System Activated! You will be now returned to your original starting position.]

Shen Qingqiu dies and gets a second chance and decides to try a different approach.

Character Optimisation by esama

[Bonus mission, "Me, Myself and I" is now available. Would you like to activate the mission?]

Shen Qingqiu tries to sort himself out. Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge try to help.

pure white and snow-bright by AMereDream

The first time you are used by old hands but a new soul, it is out of pure curiosity. One hand on your scabbard, one hand on your hilt, and a soft gasp of delight at the sight of your beauty. You preen. You are a beautiful thing, and you know it.

The second time you are used by old hands but a new soul, you kill a man.

(Or, you are Xiu Ya. Perhaps that is not what you were in the past, but it is what you are now.)

Sit With Your Soul by Tossawary

The original Shen Qingqiu suffers a severe deviation that unsettles his daemon, transforming them into a childish and inconstant creature, too curious and without any memories of the life that has made him so bitter. His soul is now unrecognizable to him and everyone can see his humiliation.

Shen Yuan isn't exactly happy to have transmigrated into Proud Immortal Demon Way at all, much less as this doomed scum villain's daemon.

A His Dark Materials Fusion AU.

when at first i learned to speak (i used all my words to fight) by xfrinz

Xiao Jiu doesn't know where he is, but he doesn't need to know where he is to not trust it. The only person that Xiao Jiu trusts is Qi-ge.

//

AKA: Another Shen Qingqiu De-Aging Fic

You came to me through the green of a forest by namio

...I woke, and the low moon’s glimmer on a rafter Seemed to be your face, still floating in the air.

A gentle laugh, inky reeds upon a white fan. This is a figure he will never see again, Liu Qingge realizes.

The Many Trials and Tribulations of Ming Fan by The Feels Whale

Ming Fan just wants to get through ONE supervised night hunt without this happening.

Or: the one where Shen Qingqiu continues to be attractive to people who aren’t Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge. It's a problem.

---

“Da-shixiong.” Ning-shimei’s groan was barely audible to anyone who didn’t have a cultivator’s enhanced senses. To him and the rest of their assembled siblings, though, it rang out like a bell. The only one who didn’t notice was Shizun. He was up ahead and deep in conversation with the Lord who’d summoned them to investigate a series of local disappearances.

“I saw,” Ming Fan sighed. “Eyes front. Everyone knows their roles.”

Frankly, he’d been braced for this moment since he’d asked around about the family hosting them for the duration of this investigation. He’d discovered that they had two marriage-aged daughters in the household, neither of whom were engaged.

Help! My Boss is a Bitch. by x_los

Shen Yuan was born to be Reviewer 2. Decades after his marriage, Empress Shen Qingqiu is living his best life at the entire demonic civil service's expense.

Grasping a Kite with Broken String by yamabuki_kana (cygnisor)

Despite how hard Shen Qingqiu tries to hide it, everyone knows how he mourns for Luo Binghe's loss in the Immortal Alliance Conference.

Liu Qingge tries to help him.

Tongfang by The Feels Whale

Shen Yuan is reincarnated as a cannon fodder character and eventual murder victim in one of the whodunnit arcs in Proud Immortal Demon Way. Things escalate quickly.

Or: that one where young Luo Binghe’s career goal is ‘Bride’.

#SVSSS #TGCF #Fic Recs #I only have like... five fics bookmarked for TGCF #so not many recs there #It's just not a story I feel the need to read much fic for

[lansplaining]

Re: Nirvana in Fire

For me the characters that I would've blorbo'd have so little (English) fan content they weren't able to ascend to blorbo status. For menthat's Mu Nihuang, grand princess Liyang, Mu Qing, and Yan Que.

I LIKE Mei Changsu and Xiao Jingyan. They just didn't compel me enough I needed to read fanfic about them (individually or their relationship). Idk why.

I JUST WANT MENG DA-GE FIC AND THERE IS NONE

I really like them too! I haven't quite hit upon what I want out of fic from them yet (if anything), so I feel you there

#ask answered #nif

[aroacehanzawa]

What are kaleidescope of death and global examination? You've piqued my interest after your liveblogging lol (as in, I'm very curious to know what makes one so terrible and the other so good, and what they're about)

Heyy! They are both danmei webnovels of the unlimited flow genre, with basically levelled survival games where if you die in the "game" you die in real life. Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu (147 chapters, info carrd) is horror-focused, where characters who are close to death must pass 12 doors that are kind of like elaborate escape rooms filled with ghosts and monsters typically from urban legends. Global Examination by Mu Su Li (166 chapters, info carrd) is similar but less focused on horror and follows characters who have been pulled into a mysterious system where they have to solve exam-style questions except the questions are actually dangerous scenarios where it's easy to die. And there's romance in both of them <3

GE is brilliant in the way that both the MC and ML are well-written with fleshed-out backstories and they are both incredibly smart and complement each other's skills perfectly. The exam system is really cleverly laid out and the way the characters solve each level is presented in a very logical way, so that the way they are smart doesn't feel forced and instead reads very natural! The world inside the system is also consistent and we get to find out more and more about it at a good pace, and the recurring characters all turn out to be very important not only to the plot but also to our protagonists.

To me the plot never felt like it was dragging on, because on top of solving each exam level there is a greater narrative connecting everything, so that eventually all the plot points come together in a very satisfying way at the end! The leads also have great chemistry even without knowing their backstories, which makes it even more emotional and romantic after you learn everything about them. It's genuinely one of my favourite webnovels!!

In comparison, KOD just falls flat despite the amount of 5 star reviews and the hype i keep seeing by people who recommend it as a similar novel to GE. I didn't think the horror part was scary at all, at least for me, because it relied mainly on stuff like grotesque ways to die and mutilated body parts, which i thought were just gross instead of actually scary. But the main problem i have with this novel is that the main characters are presented as 'smart' but the way they solved each door relied too much on luck and coincidences or them somehow coming to 'obvious' conclusions that seem like they just came out of nowhere. It was like the author just kept telling us that 'oh here is this random item or situation so clearly it must be like this' without any intermediate steps, and most of the time they never would've even escaped the door if the ML or MC hadn't ~somehow~ stumbled on a key item or hint.

There is also a ridiculous amount of plot armor for the main characters, which i could suspend disbelief for, if the rest of the story wasn't also written in this hand-wavy style of 'anyway so this is how they solved the problem' and 'anyway so this is how they got out the door'. The world of the doors is never clearly explained or given any more meaningful treatment than if they were levels in some random video game, and the climax felt like a poor attempt at bringing it all together but just ended up with basically 'then so-and-so many days passed and they survived'.

The characters were not very fleshed-out*, especially the MC who seemed like he was only given basic traits like 'exceptionally calm' and 'cat-lover' - and even the cat-lover part was forgotten for most of the story and feels like when you make an OC and give them random traits that are only ever mentioned in the character sheet... The way the leads got together felt abrupt and superficial, and after that it's like no other characters mattered, which i suppose is a romance trope of its own, but when you apply it to shallowly-written characters like this, it just feels forced.

*) My biggest gripe was the author deciding to put key plot twists about the main characters in the first extra chapter after the ending (like ?!?!?), that changed the whole perspective of the story but didn't actually add anything of value to the plot itself and just makes everything more convoluted and plain worse if you think about it. The side characters who were actually interesting were either used as plot devices or plain forgotten about. And the ML who starts off relatively interesting in comparison to the others, is practically reduced to a caricature of himself by the end.

Anyway. Sorry this got so long i really had to rant about KOD to get it out of my system. Basically GE did everything that KOD tried to do but wayyyy better, and if you're looking for a well-written infinite flow novel with an ingenious plot and well-written characters with outstanding chemistry, look no further than Global Examination!!

#can you tell i'm soooo salty about kod #i pushed through because i wanted to know how it ended but uhhhhh what a waste of time #and it's not even how low i would rate it but it's so annoying to see the amount of 5 star reviews like...........really? #i mean if you read it without using your brain then sure. unfortunately that couldn't be me

[morethanwonderful]

Round 2 Is Here! The Which MXTX Character do You Most Want to Study Like a Little Bug Tournament Bracket

For an explanation of what my deal is or links to finished matches, look here. Otherwise, let's have some fun facts about round 1:

The closest match from round 1 was Mobei-jun vs Lan Wangji, in which Lwj won by a tiny margin of 2%. Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun technically had the same final numbers, but the Mbj vs Lwj poll had many more total votes and a lot more variation as to who was in the lead while it ran, so I'm counting it as the narrower victory.

The biggest win margin in round 1 was Song Lan vs Jiang Cheng, in which Jc got a whopping 85% of the vote. Sorry, Song Lan.

The most total votes in round 1 went to Liu Qingge vs Feng Xin, with 281 total votes between them. The notes would like Liu Qingge under a microscope.

The fewest total votes in round 1 went to Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun, with only 102 votes between them. Truly nobody cares about those assholes.

Now on to round 2! You can find the full list of links both on the original announcement post (linked above) or right here under the readmore. Happy voting ;).

Yin Yu vs Lou Binghe (Bing-mei ver.)

Mei Nianqing (Guoshi) vs Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.)

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Ban Yue vs Liu Mingyan

Lan Wangji vs Zhuzhi-lang

Bai Wuxiang vs Tianlang-jun

Lan Qiren vs Yu Ziyuan

Mu Qing vs Jin Guangyao

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Ning Yingying

Xie Lian vs Yue Qingyuan

Shang Qinghua vs Jiang Yanli

Nie Huaisang vs Jin Zixun

Wei Wuxian vs Wen Qing

Qi Rong vs Jiang Cheng

Liu Qingge vs Hua Cheng

Lan Sizhui vs Shi Wudu

Also, as a bonus, I was real excited to show y'all this edgy-ass Xue Yang image in round 2, but he got eliminated, so here's a Freak:

#mxtx #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #svsss #the scum villain's self-saving system #ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong #mxtx bugpoll #ID in alt text

[lasenbyphoenix]

10 Characters I Fell In Love With In 2022

I did this last year and really liked looking back on everything, so I'm bringing it back. In no particular order...

1. Hei Fengxi/Feng Lanxi - Who Rules The World.

He's sweet, he's intelligent, he's graceful, he's cunning, he's loyal, he's got childhood trauma that makes him lead a double life... He's the whole package! (He's also Yang Yang which is a delightful bonus). I love that through the course of the story he gets to shift his place within his family to align with his actual skills, even if the reveal is a hard one, and reevaluates his ambitions and desires along the way.

2. Liu Yihuan - Love and Redemption.

I started LaR with a built in soft spot for Hao Chen because Liu Xueyi, but after hearing the backstory drop of Sifeng's cellmate in episode 7 I was intrigued, and every other appearance of Liu Yihuan since has replaced him as my favourite. He goes back and forth between supportive da-ge to jaded dad, and whenever someone shows up at his door for help he is Just So DONE with it all but helps anyway. If you're anything like me and love to tell your show's characters they're being idiots when they go off on their noble self-sacrificing tangents, you'll also love Liu Yihuan because he calls them idiots to their face. Because he cares.

3. Teng She - Love and Redemption.

He must have been such a fun character to play for Bai Shu, because he is one hell of a fun character to watch. You never once forget that he's a snake enjoying the perks of a human form and is out to have the best time he can. I spent a good couple of months absolutely hating Chu Xuanji and Sifeng for their initial treatment of Teng She (RIP @gaiahenshin who got to hear all about it in real time) which goes to prove how great he is as a character if he can threaten your good opinion of the main duo!

4. Meng Zhi - Nirvana in Fire.

Holy shit, I could fill this entire list with characters from NiF. So in an effort to save some room for other characters, I've reluctantly chosen just one (how do you choose?? *sobs*) - Meng Zhi, an absolute puppy-dog of a man with no poker face to speak of and a heart of gold. He shows that not every character has to be a genius to be valuable to the story, and his interactions with Feiliu are the absolute best.

5. Lee Bag Won - My Country: The New Age

I love how he's introduced with sympathy as the hardworking son who is unappreciated by his father, and then chooses to make that his villain story. By the time he turns his hand to betraying his family to get what he believes he's owed, the audience has already been moved to his plight, so he doesn't come across as a flat baddie, but instead a complex character. And he does it all so, so well.

6. Xiao Jingyan - Nirvana in Fire

Ok I lied. I couldn't stop at just one character from Nirvana in Fire, and Xiao Jingyan has too much of my heart not to gush about. In contrast to Lee Bag Won, in Xiao Jingyan we get to see the unappreciated son be rewarded, although it takes a lot of help to get there. But it's his strength of morals even when things look like they'll never change for him that is what sets him apart. Even appearing cold on the surface, his relationships with his men, his mother, Mei Changsu and Mu Nihuang that prove that he's only cold because he's been hurt, and who can resist a man like that? Also, Wang Kai is gorgeous.

7. Kang Yohan - The Devil Judge.

When you present me with a character that looks fantastic in a suit with a voice to match, is scarily competent at his job, talks affectionately to his robot butler and is awkwardly afraid of his teenage neice, I'm going to adore him. His pathos is so well balanced by his weaknesses in a great example of Korean drama writing, and makes his journey such an emotional rollercoaster to follow.

8. Gu Ying - Tientsin Mystic.

Even in a show with Zhang Mingen in it, what I loved the most about Tientsin Mystic was the depth and strengths given to it's female leads. They may have needed rescued once or twice, but also were the rescuers just as often. Embodying part of the 'mystic' side of the story, Gu Ying was written as exuberant and whimsical, but thankfully not goofy or simple because of it. Her fight skills and her knowledge were just as valuable as everyone else's, and - spoiler for the end of season 1 - it was refreshing to see her turn out to be the 'fated child' rather than Guo Deyou. And she had some absolutely fantastic outfits.

9. Yu Xiao Gang "Grandmaster" - Douluo Continent.

Although Douluo Continent was less memorable than other shows I watched in 2022, it's characters were lovely to follow. Much like Liu Yihuan, Yu Xiao Gang is another grumpy recluse who is over the whole young person's drama happening around him, but drawn into the middle of it anyway due to caring too much about the protagonist to let them wander off without any guidance. I very much appreciate dramas that have this category of character as I'm at an age where I can no longer identify with the coming-of-age type of main character, but still like them enough to want to shake some sense into them, and these sarcastic mentors get to do it for me.

10. Su Mengzhen - Heroes.

I haven't finished Heroes yet due to not having the bandwidth for it's levels of tragedy, but the gravitas of Su Mengzhen (and the beauty of Baron Chen's swagger and real hair) deserve to make the list, especially because starting the show this year means he wont be eligible for next year's list. He makes a big impression showcasing his skill, his drive and his illness right off the bat to make your heart start to break for him from the very beginning. I'm very much looking forward to being ruined by the rest of this show in 2023.

Tagging @gaiahenshin @psychic-waffles @xcziel @dongfangqingcang @eirenical @faradheia @nope4ever and anyone else who is interested, but no pressure!

[ao3feed-liushen]

Clueless Omega Self-Saving System

read it on the AO3 here

by irlsqq

PIDW was a story secretly written with a/b/o dynamics all along, it was just never explicitly stated because that wasn't the kind of audience Airplane Shooting Toward the Sky was writing for. Shen Yuan was completely oblivious to this fact while he was reading - and hating on - PIDW, so when he transmigrated into the body of the (omega) scum villain, Shen Qingqiu, he was clueless as to what kinds of secrets this world had under the surface, and he had no idea what kind of role he had just been dropped into.

-

Shen Qingqiu will navigate life without knowing that he's an omega until a very rude awakening reveals the fact to him. Resident alphas Liu Qingge, Yue Qingyuan, and Luo Binghe will fight over who gets to lay claim, but ultimately the decision lies with Shen Qingqiu. Special guests are omega Mu Qingfang as our resident tired doctor, beta Shang Qinghua (airplane bro) who is interested to see the a/b/o dynamics play out irl, alpha Mobei-jun with his icy outlook on relationships until a certain beta barged into his life, and Bing-ge tearing apart time and space to claim his role as the star of the show again.

(I don't write, or like omega-verse. Take it with a grain of salt.)

Words: 10793, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Liǔ Qīnggē, Yuè Qīngyuán, Luò Bīnghé, Original Luò Bīnghé, Níng Yīngyīng, Míng Fān (Scum Villain), Mù Qīngfāng, Shàng Qīnghuá

Relationships: Liǔ Qīnggē/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū/Yuè Qīngyuán, Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Original Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū

Additional Tags: Oblivious Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Has a Harem, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, I have never written omegaverse and I don't like omegaverse so idk what's going on here, Scent Marking, Biting, Omega Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Alpha Liǔ Qīnggē, Alpha Yuè Qīngyuán, Beta Shàng Qīnghuá, Anal Sex, Rough Sex, Alpha Mòběi-jūn, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Masturbation

read it on the AO3 here

#svsss #liushen #liu qingge #shen qingqiu #scum villain's self-saving system #ao3feed #人渣反派自救系统