#Gao Qiu

[foxfren]

Yizhi is literally so iconic, “lol guys I just inherited 1.8 billion yen 🥱 I never liked my dad anyways 💁‍♀️” LIKE GIRL WHAT???

[incorrect-ironwidow]

Gao Qiu: Sometimes, I feel like I have failed as a father.

Yizhi: Sometimes?

Enter our Iron Widow Server!

[rivvyelf]

Chapter 4 Reflection. AKA, How the Hell did I write this in 3 Days?

ff.net link

ao3 link

Last year, I published chapter 4 on the LOTR Fanatics Plaza in only 3 days after I published chapter 3. WTF. And this is one of those chapters where I didn't substantially revise later.

Spoilers ahead

What I remember about this chapter was a couple of things. The description of how Gao did those tricks with the football was largely inspired by how he did it in the 1998 Water Margin TV series.

There's something so... modern about how he became Grand Marshal. I wish this was the true story of his actual history: how he became buddies with the crown prince due to their passion for sports and that led him to become one of the most powerful people in the country.

Beware the power of.... the Football!

So Gao also gets his name Qiu in this chapter, and I wanted to make this a more memorable thing than its blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the book. His name, 俅, if you replace the left side (he) with king (王), you get "ball." Hence his nickname, Gao the Ball. Not really flattering since he got kicked in the balls in an earlier chapter.

Yanny (now known as Yanyi) then transforms into Gao Yannei. Pretty fun conversation to write between the two.

Gao then goes on his rampage against those who rejected him (his father for one) but I wanted to show his more compassionate side to people who supported him in the past, like Su Dongpo. Now I'm pretty sure he wasn't able to thank him directly in history, as I recall him helping out Su's family financially when Gao became powerful, implying Dongpo had passed already. Make him more than your typical one-dimensional corrupt person.

Then of course I end it with him realizing that this Wang Jin he looks forward to meeting is the person that beat the crap out of him.

That last line works in Mandarin Chinese. Since he would've said execute "ta." Ta can mean anyone and anything verbally since Mandarin dialect has only one gendered pronoun. And we'll see how Wang Jin takes advantage of that linguistic mishap.

[qqgk-incorrect-quotes]

You Huo: *after a disagreement* I want you back Qin Jiu: three words, say it and I'm yours You Huo: let's commit arson Qin Jiu: you know me so well

[you-huo]

read qqgk global examination for the narration

[drawulan]

For others, closing themselves off was a way of protecting themselves but Invigilator A was different. He was protecting others.

He would always draw a circle around danger zones and would habitually sit himself in the middle of it and forcefully push everyone else out of that circle. This was just like how he was trying to persuade Qin Jiu to leave the system once he passes the examination and not come back.

Chapter 146

[yuziyou]

Global Examination (QQGK) | cover for the first volume of english translation | publisher Rosmei

[li-vera]

"Don't close your eyes at me, Big Invigilator" One of my favorite moments (๑ > ᴗ < ๑)

[murasaki-cha]

Me at the system about JiuHuo: They've never *explosions in the background* done anything *sounds of glass shattering* wrong in *car crushes against a wall as gunshots are heard* their life ever!*bazooka blasts*

[raine312]

Your warmth.

[shirou-oh-sakura]

♡  ~Happy Birthday Ye Twins~   ♡   This lunar year is Dragon~

YeQiu with One Autumn Leaf's garb, Ye Xiu with Lord Grim's

[yuwenism]

Today is my birthday, my friend draws Di Li and Yu Wen as a gift for meeeee

[kukuandkookie]

Happy birthday to Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu from the official Quan Zhi Gao Shou Weibo!!

I wanted to share this official art since I haven’t seen it posted on Tumblr yet, but also because the post noted the inclusion of cornflowers, meaning happiness and encounter, which I think is sweet. 🥺

[rivvyelf]

Chapter 2 Reflection:

FF.net: link

AO3: link

On this day (July 24th,) last year (2022), I posted the second chapter of my first fanfic, Outlaws of the Inland Sea. Looking back there are things I want to keep in the chapter, stuff that shows my rustiness, references I find cringeworthy, and I plan to revise Chapter 2 after posting "Chapter 1."

Warning: Spoilers Ahead, but eh, nothing that'll break your mind.

The "Qing Court Version" of "Along the River during the Qingming Festival."

Feel free to ask me about my decision-making. I'm leaving a lot of stuff from here.

For the beginning of Chapter 2, I had in mind this painting above. I did a high school paper on this painting. It's a very long painting, encompassing 8 whole scrolls.

Just for the record... I consider this the worst chapter in the entire fic. Might be surprising to some readers. There's a reason why I prefer that people read Chapter 3 onwards. But this chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it was.

Our character (who I later reveal to be Wang Jin) is relaxing here eating the brown bread as a tie-in from the Prelude.

I wanted to change the sex of a bunch of characters from Water Margin. It was part of an ambitious plan to put twists in both themes, motives, and actions of the characters. Wang Jin is one of these gender-bent characters. In the novel, Wang Jin is a rather minor character who only appears in one chapter.

That's Wang Jin in the 1998 Water Margin TV series.

Boy did I have changes for Wang Jin! Starting with gender. I used her POV to describe her origin as a corvee laborer and daughter of an Arms Instructor, going to Dongjing for employment as an Arms Instructor. This was also where I began to build the world of my fanfic. Mixed in angry trees, trolls, spiders, etc. into obstacles corvee laborers had to deal with, and voila, we not only build the world but we built the character too.

Then we get to the second half: Wang Jin beating up Gao's Gang. This was A LOT easier to write. I realized then that for me it was easier to write comedy than anything else. I gender-bent the person that will become Gao Yannei. Kept the same gender for the person that will become Gao Qiu. Wang Jin beating Gao Qiu wasn't a thing in the Water Margin novel (it was Wang Sheng that did that), but I was introduced to Water Margin in the 1998 TV series. I would link the fight here but I'm afraid it'll get copyrighted.

Instead, I'll share the Youtube link to the audio track that played when Wang Jin beat down Gao Qiu's gang:

It's an earworm. I loved it, it hooked me into the TV series and into Water Margin.

In the fight I wrote in the chapter, I made sure that every action Wang Jin took made sense and demonstrated her martial ability while not making her overly superhuman. She is here in Dongjing to instruct, after all, so I needed to make it believable that she could teach people that may not be as athletically or combat-gifted as her.

The hook I made for the next chapter was a constable seeing the destruction. And insert the characteristic Water Margin cliffhanger.

Reflection: It was the second piece of creative writing I wrote after my mom passed away. This was more difficult to write than the Prelude, and there's a bunch of stuff I plan to revise with this chapter (brownies if you can guess which areas!). When I first reread this chapter, what came to mind was the concept of "Culture Shock." This would especially be the case for any Tolkien fan. The East was characterized by tribes, not a centralized Empire where elves, dwarves, and humans cooperated together. Prose would also be a bit of a culture shock too.

Looking back there's a lot of stuff I'm keeping in, but I'll be adding more worldbuilding scenes in the city. Things like a person throwing roof tiles at a house, commentary on how the capital is wasting food and material that was foraged and mined by laborers like Wang Jin. Stuff like that.

[qqgk-incorrect-quotes]

You Huo: sometimes I like to place my hands on someone's cheeks, gazing into their eyes You Huo: and violently jerking their head till it snaps Qin Jiu: that took an unexpected turn Chu Yue: so did their head

[you-huo]

Qin Jiu: thank god he doesn't know he's invligator A

You Huo: thank god he doesn't know im invligator A