#the imperial uncle

[unforth]

@esper-aroon has enabled me, so here let me scream at y'all about The Imperial Uncle.

Okay, so I recently read The Imperial Uncle (Huang Shu) by Da Feng Gua Guo from Peach Flower House and I really loved it??? It's first person pov, mlm, about the Emperor's uncle Jing Chengjun, who is mistrusted by everyone simply because of who his parents were and his position, and so he's basically given up on trying to convince people that he's actually a nice, decent person without ulterior motives. He's super trapped by his position, and there's so much he can't say and do, and he's also a hopeless romantic, like, from his own mouth all he really wants is to sleep beside and wake up next to someone who actually gives a shit about him, and even that is basically out of reach in his life. Like, the book starts with his wife (who he has never once had sex with) storming into a meeting he's having and announcing he's a cuckold and she's pregnant.

But also, this poor bastard really thinks he knows what's going on and his very smart. Very unreliable narrator. He's actually kinda a hilarious, impulsive himbo. But the TL:DR is that his loneliness and isolation and the extent to which he's politically trapped routinely lead him to make absolutely terrible decisions.

E. Danglar's translation is absolutely gorgeous, too, and... idk, if you love political plots, melodramatic idiot main characters, a dose of pining, and a slow burn that eventually pays off, come take a look??? (some people think it's a love triangle??? idk, I never really got that vibe, I never felt it was really in doubt which of the two potential dudes he'd end up with, but maybe I only feel that way because I got it right, lmao).

Anyway, I can't stop thinking about how these two idiots end up finally finding each other and getting together, and I have an entire AU in my head (a modern corporate one) and part of another (canon divergent from like a decade before the book starts), and I just want people to love this book as much as I did and scream with me about it.

#unforth rambles #da feng gua guo #the imperial uncle #huang shu #the first au is jing chengjun and li ransi meet and have a fling during a vacation #and then find out that they work for the same company #hijinks ensue #the other is an au that starts with what if jing chengjun's father had actually been accused and convicted of treason #whether he was guilty or not #and his family was sentenced to death #but because jing chengjun is a youth he is instead made into a eunuch and forced into servitude to the imperial family #i know it's a stretch that someone of his stature would be treated that way instead of killed or sold off as a slave #i just don't care #anyway he's given awful jobs at first and they leave him weak and sickly but eventually it because clear he really isn't a threat #and he's allowed to help raise the princes in the next generation including the crown prince #and he also gets to know the other young people around the palace but as a subservient slightly older person #instead of as their elder of higher rank #and then liu tongyi is like okay so everyone thinks you're useless do you want to be a spy for me and help me uncover treason #and he's like FUCK YEAH #and love unfolds from there ofc

[nemainofthewater]

Best character surnamed: Jing

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

#poll #qi ye #imperial coroner #the myth #ancient love poetry #the imperial uncle #romance of the three kingdoms #heavenly sword and dragon slaying sabre

[trashnovellover28]

My bookshelf plus my humble danmei corner.

More books (hopefully 😅) in the future...

#books #mxtx #mxtx svsss #bingqiu #meng shi #thousand autumns #yanshen #shisi #little mushroom #luzhe #cang wu bin bai #golden terrace #Yanfu #da feng gua guo #the imperial uncle

[bi4bihankking]

Hell Followed With Us Summary:

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.   But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.       Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

The Imperial Uncle Summary:

Prince Huai, uncle to the young emperor, is the chief of all poisons, the evil manipulator, the greatest of malignant tumors... or so people say.

But no matter--the imperial uncle has a plan. He will sabotage the conspiracy against the throne and make his loyalty known to all. His plan will wipe his reputation clean and put an end to the rumors.

Maybe then Prince Huai can start mending the other facets of his life. Perhaps, he can even be worthy of the paragon of virtue he yearns for...

#hell followed with us #andrew joseph white #the imperial uncle #da feng gua guo #danmei #lgbt books #lgbt literature #queer books #queer literature #lgbtqia #poll #bookblr #booklr #books #literature #queer lit

[lansplaining]

I saw in the tags on the reading post you were finishing up Imperial Uncle and that you liked it. I was just considering reading it and wondered if you might elaborate on your thoughts!

absolutely!

it's only one volume, which is a nice change of pace, literally-- plot events actually, like. happen. i finished it in two days of not-frantic reading! also, despite being an imperial drama, it means there's actually a relatively contained cast of characters.

it's first person narration, which I don't generally like much, but I do think it works in this case because the plot is essentially "area man misunderstands his relationships to everyone he knows," so it helps to only have the protagonist's POV.

the writing style doesn't really have the liveliness of MXTX or Meatbun, and the romance is extremely staid. he kisses the red herring love interest more than he does the actual one, and they spend most of their time talking around each other while the protagonist doesn't realize they're flirting. it reminds me of fourteenth year of chenghua in that respect, and some of the style reminds me a bit of priest as well (but less annoying, to me).

protagonist Prince Huai/Jing Weiyi/Chengjun is a bisexual dumbass in his 30s who insists he accidentally turned himself gay because he was only pretending to be a cutsleeve to reassure his mistrustful royal relatives that he was harmless and had no imperial ambitions but then slept with men too much and now he actually likes them :( that's the only reason ok :( self awareness score of 0. beneath an incredibly thin veneer of cynicism is a romantic who just wants to do right by his nephew the emperor, have someone to spend his life with, and to have a sense of purpose. he also sleeps with a LOT of other people, including sex workers, which i know is something that some people dislike.

the two potential love interests are a morally upright courtier who he thinks would naturally never dare associate with someone with his bad reputation, and a dandyish son of one of the older courtiers who has tried to recruit Chengjun into his schemes to topple the emperor, and who is one of his best friends.

there are also a passel of very charming nephews/brothers to the emperor. there are... no women to speak of lol (except his wife at the very beginning, but. yeah. she goes away.)

the sample on peach flower house's website gives a pretty good sense of the writing style, but I will say that while I didn't like the writing style at first or really ever, it definitely grew on me and I got pretty invested in the characters and in wanting to know how the plot would turn out. it's definitely one you want to approach with your shen qingqiu "this narrator is a moron and nothing he says about himself or other people is very accurate" goggles on.

the only content warning that comes to mind besides some violence is fairly extensive depictions of sex work, several of which which clearly acknowledge that the sex workers are slaves and do not want to be doing this.

#ask answered #the imperial uncle

[makethosenarratorsfight]

REVIVED UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE C

NOTE; This is a revival round. These narrators are not fighting due to being dead

#unreliable narrator battle #unreliable narrators #polls #side c #revival round #yoo jongwoo #strangers from hell #prince huai #the imperial uncle

[miaoyincourt]

#the imperial uncle #da feng gua guo #danmei #booklr #bookblr #book photography #my posts #my photos

[fortune-maiden]

As I understand, Zhang Ping is the protagonist of a different novel of the author's, and I'm glad to hear that because he has now become my favorite side character in this one xD

#the imperial uncle #on the previous page he told the protag that his mansion was badly designed for preventing assassinations #and was described as really looking forward to investigating the murder #novelupdates tells me this is the protag of the novel that was adapted into A League of Noblemen #so then... is that drama good because it certainly has my attention now! xD

[books-movies-anime-shows-games]

My very first danmei one-shots from Peach Flower House 😍 They are so beautiful, I'm so excited!!

#my stuff #the imperial uncle #peach blossom debt

[erinaceina]

So many of the comments I have seen on The Imperial Uncle are basically that the reader didn’t know what the main pairing was going to be right until the end. I’m about a quarter of the way through and it seems fairly straightforward and this just worries me. What am I missing? Is there going to be a big reveal/switch about? Is it all a ruse?

#I’m really enjoying this but I’m also increasingly anxious #the imperial uncle

[unforth]

So I'm reading The Imperial Uncle by Da Feng Gua Guo and really enjoying it so far, and also

Prince Huai is such a smart ass, I kinda love him.

Just. Grow a dagger in his arm, let it spawn little baby daggers. 🤣

#unforth rambles #the imperial uncle

[nemainofthewater]

Best Character surnamed: Chu

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgot anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

#poll #the dumb husky and his white cat shizun #guardian #love and redemption #imperial coroner #legend of yunxi #the king's avatar #a journey to love #the imperial uncle #killer and healer #the wolf

[fallloverfic]

Rating: General audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom:  皇叔 - 大风刮过 | Huáng Shū - Dà Fēng Guā Guò

Relationships: Jing Chengjun/Liu Tongyi

Tags: Post-Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Boys Kissing, Boys in Love, Established Relationship, Anxiety, Men Crying, POV Liu Tongyi, Implied/Referenced Homophobia

Summary: While living together in contentment, Liu Tongyi thinks about his missed moments with Jing Weiyi, and they talk about Prince Huai's paintings.

Sight beyond sight (1,670 words, complete)

(Also for folks who don't know, you can get a physical and ebook copy of the English translation of The Imperial Uncle on Peach Flower House)

#皇叔 - 大风刮过 #Huáng Shū #The Imperial Uncle #Dà Fēng Guā Guò #Jing Chengjun/Liu Tongyi #Jing Weiyi/Liu Tongyi #Jing Weiyi #Chengjun #Jing Weiyi x Liu Tongyi #Chengjun x Ransi #m/m

[bi4bihankking]

The Imperial Uncle Summary:

Prince Huai, uncle to the young emperor, is the chief of all poisons, the evil manipulator, the greatest of malignant tumors... or so people say.

But no matter--the imperial uncle has a plan. He will sabotage the conspiracy against the throne and make his loyalty known to all. His plan will wipe his reputation clean and put an end to the rumors.

Maybe then Prince Huai can start mending the other facets of his life. Perhaps, he can even be worthy of the paragon of virtue he yearns for...

My Tender Matador Summary:

Centered around the 1986 attempt on the life of Augusto Pinochet, an event that changed Chile forever, My Tender Matador is one of the most explosive, controversial, and popular novels to have been published in that country in decades. It is spring 1986 in the city of Santiago, and Augusto Pinochet is losing his grip on power. In one of the city's many poor neighborhoods works the Queen of the Corner, a hopeless and lonely romantic who embroiders linens for the wealthy and listens to boleros to drown out the gunshots and rioting in the streets. Along comes Carlos, a young, handsome man who befriends the aging homosexual and uses his house to store mysterious boxes and hold clandestine meetings. My Tender Matador is an extraordinary novel of revolution and forbidden love, and a stirring portrait of Chile at an historical crossroads. By turns funny and profoundly moving, Pedro Lemebel's lyrical prose offers an intimate window into the mind of Pinochet himself as the world of Carlos and the Queen prepares to collide with the dictator's own in a fantastic and unexpected way.

#the imperial uncle #da feng gua guo #my tender matador #pedro lemebel #danmei #lgbt books #lgbt literature #queer books #queer literature #lgbtqia #poll

[sinterblackwell]

my current read giving me a time to rise flashbacks…

#❣️ #this is not good #this is not good for me at all….. #prince huai & ​​yun yu’s relationship are reminding me too much of alain & luca and their ending has scarred me for life so pls no :( #the imperial uncle #booklr

[starlight-bread-blog]

The Good & the Bad: On Aang (Not) Killing the Fire Lord

I recived this asks forever ago, trurly sorry anon, but I'll keep my apologises for the end. I'd love to answer that!

If you're asking me, this is way better than """killing him""". Case closed.

Getting this cleared up: The show didn't say that Aang is morally superior for this. It was solely about staying true to himself. Not a moral high ground.

So when I hear people say it's problematic because it implies that sparing imperialistic dictators has some intrinsic goodness to it, (Ahem-Lily Orchard), I just can't agree. It was never about universal ethics, it was about Aang's culture and values.

Why Is This a Good Thing?

Aang loves his culture, and takes a lot of pride in it and its values. (See: in The Southern Raiders his first go-to to convince Katara to spare Yon Rah is his culture, rather than what such act would do Katara herself). He would have been ashamed if he had broken them. But right now they clash with his Avatar duties, with god-knows how many lives at stake. He needs to let go of his pride & shame, and become humble.

Just like Zuko humbling himself to the GAang before they accept him, or Sokka humbling himself to the Kyoshi warriors and Master Piandao, Aang could only speak to the the lion turtle after he'd given up, after he was humbled.

Even beyond Aang, it enhances the show's themes at large. A theme in A:TLA is paving your own path, and that you can do what you want despite the pressure. Your true destiny will come, you might be surprised by it, but it's yours and you're free to carve it.

You just have to keep going, to continue to do the right thing, and your destiny will find you. Things have a way of working out in the end, eventually.

Sparing Ozai serves the theme, thus the show overall. Everyone told him it's his destiny to kill the Fire Lord and end the war. But he didn't agree, paving his own path, his own destiny, and all was well. The pieces fell in their place.

It is s amplified by the fact that if you read between the lines, he actually did follow all the previous Avatars' wisdom besides Yangchen's.

Aang knew what he wanted from the start. He isn't going to kill the Fire Lord. People (rightfully) tried to pressure him, but in the end, he stuck to his decision.

Justice was served. Aang took his bending away and put him to rot in prison for the rest of his life. There's more than one way to execute justice.

"... and the destiny of the world". That's exactly what Aang did. He followed his own path (staying true to himself) while saving the world (ending Ozai regime).

So that leaves us with Yangchen's advice. The one he didn't follow:

This opens another layer to this. Why doesn't Aang take the advice of a fellow Air Nomad? The one he should relate to the most? Because despite both being Avatars and Airbenders, Aang is the last. They're not the same. Yangchen is speaking from a place of privilege. She can carry the weight of the Avatar and not worry about the Air Nomads. Notice the wording: "spiritual needs". But it's deeper than that. In her time, they were there, they'll preserve their culture and values. Aang doesn't have that.

He's Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has both weights to carry. The decision to spare the Fire Lord, while protecting the rest of the world, is embedded in the show's title.

There's also something so incredibly powerful in Ozai being defeated specifically with Air Nomad values. A 100 years ago, during Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation started the war by genociding them. When it comes back, the Avatar, the last Air Nomad, ends the war and stops the next genocide while preserving their values. The Fire Nation isn't going to push him to taint (one of) the last living aspacts of the Air Nomads, and Aang is shouting it – in the very same day the disaster occurred.

(Additionally I view this as a land mark of his character development since Siege of the North. He used spirit powers for murder, now he's using them for mercy).

(A:TLA is also a show made with kids in mind. They may not be able to make Aang kill Ozai. He got his bending stolen and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. That's a more than serviceable punishment for a show aimed at kids).

(Ps: If Ozai had died Zuko would never have found out where his mother is).

The concept is fantastic. Nothing wrong there. But now, it's time for the critisism.

What's the problem then?

Despite looking in internet forums, it's entirely possible that I missed some things. With that being said, the Lion Turtles could have been foreshadowed better. As I stated, I don't mind it. But as far as I recall, it was foreshadowed once in The Library, and that's it. (Edit: It's also foreshadowed in Sokka's Master, but the point still stands).

The Lion Turtle is a twist, it subverted expectations, but that doesn't mean it has to be a deus ex machina. That's what foreshadowing is for. It's the literary device to making a plot twist feel believable. The result is many fans, including me, feeling as though it came out of no where, even though it didn't.

Overall, I love that Aang spared Ozai. It ties into the themes of the show and Aang's role as the last airbender. It makes perfect sense, it's rather beautiful. However, I do wish the foreshadowing was better.

And for Anon, to apologize for the wait, I dedicate you this meme:

#tw genocide #aang #avatar aang #lion turtle #ozai #fire lord ozai #atla meta #avatar meta #aang meta #atla ending #atla finale #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #air nomads #yangchen #kyoshi #roku #kuruk #avatar yangchen #avatar kyoshi #avatar roku #avatar kuruk #tw imperialism #avatar the last airbender meta #atla analysis #aang analysis #atla aang #atla critisism #iroh #uncle iroh