#Ouyang Xiu

[garden-ghoul]

Happy Gushiwensday Sunday! We had to take an extra day to think about this very tricky poem by Ouyang Xiu, to the tune of "Butterflies Love Flowers."

Returning from the painted pavilion. Ah, late spring: swallows flirting around their mates, graceful willows and trysting peachblossoms (denuded by a solid sky of drizzle and a courtyard full of wind). I frown austerely, though no-one's around to see. Alone, I lean on the crooked railing, muddled in mind. The perfumed grasses are dressed to impress in fine green silk. They recall that night, the river in Nan'an--- moonlit nights are heartless, and people change in the dark. Stumble memory to memory like a dream of desolation.

Lots of notes and original text under the cut.

蝶恋花·画阁归来春又晚

画阁归来春又晚。燕子双飞，柳软桃花浅。细雨满天风满院，愁眉敛尽无人见。 独倚阑干心绪乱。芳草芊绵，尚忆江南岸。风月无情人暗换，旧游如梦空肠断。

Ouyang Xiu is WAY too clever for me. In this poem he uses a ton of rebracketing tricks, where dividing a phrase at one point makes it mean one thing and dividing it at another point makes it mean a different thing. And on top of that he's using a LOT of idioms so you also have the connotative and denotative layers lying on top of each other like transparencies. I really picked a hard-mode poem this time! Let's get to it!

flirting around their mates --- literally "flying in pairs," with a connotation of marital bliss.

graceful willows --- willows are often compared to women in romantic poetry, and vice versa.

trysting peachblossoms --- it just says peachblossoms, but they also function as a symbol of love affairs. 浅 can mean shallow or light-colored, but also thin; Baike's annotations interpreted this as petals continuously shaken from the trees so they start to look bare. "Denuded," of course, also evokes taking off your clothes.

crooked railing --- 独倚阑 means "I lean against the railing" but 阑干 means crisscrossed or disordered, emphasizing the disorder we've already got at the end of this line! I originally translated this line as "With only myself to rely on, I have a confused, disordered mind."

The perfumed... green silk --- literally "fragrant grass is green and luxuriant." But as we've seen before, "fragrant grass" is an idiom for marriageable young people, so I tried to evoke a sort of cotillion.

Nan'an --- a district in Chongqing, but very possibly just a generic term for the south bank. Kept this because it sounds good.

Moonlit nights --- literally "wind and moon." This evokes variously romance, beautiful scenery, or petty topics.

heartless --- another fantastic rebracketing. If you break between the fourth and fifth character, as is customary for seven-character lines, you get 无情, no feelings. However, if you include the next character too you get 无情人 no sweetheart!

people change in the dark --- a continuation of the rebracketing thing in the middle of this line. If you read "I have no sweetheart," the end of this line could be something like "to exchange [gifts] with in secret/at night." If you read "heartless," you get "people exchange/transform in the dark/in secret." Given how much use Ouyang Xiu is getting out of alternate readings here, I think we're intended to see multiple versions at once. This could be "people change when you're not looking," it could be "people cross over" or even "people pass away."

Stumble memory to memory --- 旧游 literally "old tour," idiomatically to take a tour of places where you have memories. I put "stumble" here to echo the disordered mind and the broken heart.

dream of devastation --- more rebracketing, kind of? Breaking at the fourth character gives us "visiting old haunts as if in a dream, empty and heartbroken." But you can also read "empty dream of heartbreak." The reason I've used devastation here is... heartbreak didn't sound good as a final word. The word I actually wanted to use was חורבן / churban, but this is an English translation, so.

Anyway here's an additional literal translation, to show what it would be like if we only included denotative meanings:

Returning from the painted pavilion in late spring. I see swallows flying in pairs, supple willows and thinning peachblossoms. The whole sky is fine rain, and the whole courtyard is wind. I frown, completely self-controlled; I can see no-one. Alone, I lean on the crooked railing, my mind in disarray. The fragrant grass is luxuriantly green. I remember the Yangtze South Bank. The moon and wind are heartless, people exchange in the dark. I visit old haunts as if dreaming, empty and heartbroken.

[leahsfiction]

Ouyang Xiu - To the tune "Butterflies Love Flowers"

Coming home from the grand pavilion, it is late spring again. Swallows courting on the wing Supple willows and peach blossoms of delicate hue. Soft rain fills the skies as wind circles the yard Brows brimming with sorrow, seeing no one appear.

Alone at the railing with troubled thoughts. Fragrance from the lush soft grass Brings to mind the south shores of the river. Nature is untouched by human passions - how suddenly strangers replace those we knew! Old journeys are more like vacant dreams of heartache.

--

蝶恋花·画阁归来春又晚

欧阳修

画阁归来春又晚。燕子双飞，柳软桃花浅。细雨满天风满院，愁眉敛尽无人见。 独倚阑干心绪乱。芳草芊绵，尚忆江南岸。风月无情人暗换，旧游如梦空肠断。

notes:

"late spring" - i think either "it is again late spring" or "spring is late again" are valid interpretations. we picked late spring because of the blossoms being open

"human passions" - AUGH THIS LINE. i tried to cram in some exposition here. the contrast between the beautiful natural world in spring, unaging and unfeeling. and then how quickly people can change around us.

[ochoislas]

GARCETA

Como atambores suena el raudal en las peñas; la faz vuelta del cielo se aloma de plata. Entre abatanar de olas y rachas de lluvia, con más sereno temple se alza digna y sola.

Ouyang Xiu

di-versión©ochoislas

*

鷺鷥

激石灘聲如戰鼓　翻天浪色似銀山 灘驚浪打風兼雨　獨立亭亭意愈閑

歐陽修

[zestys-world]

RIP Jiang Yanli you would've loved the junior quartet

[fucked-up-chronically]

more paper dolls from MXTX novels :)

thinking about making more paper dolls in the future, probably ones based on animes that I watch

[kibutsujidemon]

"juniors help with wedding"

[happypeachsludgeflower]

A modern day sitcom of the junior squad living together as roommates now lives in my head rent free.

[opposingsigns]

They're a QUARTET. There are FOUR (4) OF THEM. It's a SQUAD.

Junior quartet my babies I love you more than life :)

Anyways I think the best angst is when you imagine the older generation looking at the quartet and everything they have that was fought so hard to be given. And then you play "You Are Enough" by Sleeping At Last to imagine that by :D

Part of jamiedraws_ MXTX-tober prompts from 2022. Day 20: Hug/Cuddle

(insta)(twitter)

[isawjamfirst]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jin Ling | Jin Rulan & Lan Jingyi & Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui & Ouyang Zizhen, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan & Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan & Ouyang Zizhen, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan & Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui Characters: Jin Ling | Jin Rulan, Lan Jingyi, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Ouyang Zizhen, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī (mentioned), Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn (Mentioned), Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin (referenced) Additional Tags: Coming Out, Introspection, Discussions of sexuality, bisexual lan jingyi, jin ling is gay, acespec lan sizhui, zizhen being the straight ally, i adore these boys so much u have no idea, Jin Ling needs a hug, And a Therapy, canon typical teasings from jingyi, but he gets serious too dont worry, Comfort

in which jin ling comes out

Maybe because he was a clan leader now. Maybe because people had high expectations of him. Maybe they expected an heir, waiting for the Jin Clan to flourish in the future years.

Maybe because everyone wasn't as open out there.

But then he thought of Hanguang-Jun. Chief Cultivator. Popular since he was young. Practically married to a man; the fearsome Yiling Laozu with a notorious history of summoning and controlling the dead; his idiot uncle with a fear of dogs. Jin Ling was aware that some people talked, but Hanguang-Jun was effortlessly intimidating. As for the Yiling Laozu, everyone had witnessed and heard what he was capable of, so of course they had a reason to be wary of him.

Jin Ling? Anger issues, sure. Scary? Not really.

Perhaps he cared too much about his pride and status to let a part of himself taint that image. While he had every reason to not let the Jin Clan crumble, it wasn't fair that it had narrowed down to this form of compromise.

Perhaps he would have been more open if he hadn't been cornered by these responsibilities. More carefree like Lan Jingyi, who had all the time to explore his identity outside of night hunting and poring over whatever rules the Lan sect had concocted. Jingyi, who was always almost completely unbothered by people's opinions of himself, not when they wouldn't have any effect on the people around him. Jin Ling, meanwhile, had a whole clan to lead, for fuck's sake.

How does Hanguang-Jun do it?

His friends were beginning to notice how awfully quiet he had become once they had settled into an inn later on. It wasn't unusual, considering Jin Ling wasn't much of a talker in the first place. But it was probably growing more dense in the air even Lan Jingyi sobered up from his barrage of teasing.

Noticing that Jin Ling was still stabbing his chicken with his chopsticks, Lan Jingyi hung back as their two other friends stood up to head for their booked rooms. "Not coming?" Lan Sizhui asked.

"You all go ahead,” Jin Ling said. “Just finishing my food.”

Lan Sizhui eyed his food; he was far from finished. When the other two averted their gazes at Lan Jingyi, the boy waved them off. "I'll be on my way in a bit," he told them airily.

"Don't bother him, Jingyi,"

"Promise," Jingyi held up three fingers.

"Something you've broken many times," Ouyang Zizhen supplied.

Lan Jingyi made a shooing sound and ushered his two friends upstairs. Later on, he dropped back down on his seat with an uncharacteristic grim expression. Crossing his arms, the boy propped his chin on his fist and stared intently at Jin Ling, as though he was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

Jin Ling scowled. "The fuck are you doing?"

"I'm thinking of a way to communicate with you,"

"Well, you're bothering me," he stabbed another piece of chicken from his bowl. By now, there were multiple puncture marks all over it.

"How's this," Lan Jingyi shifted in his seat and pulled the bowl towards himself, "you stop murdering your dinner and tell me what any of us did to make you go all broody today."

"I'm not broody!"

"Fine. Did any of us do something?"

"No,"

"You sure?"

"Seriously, Jingyi—"

"Okay, okay, just checking," Jingyi held up his hands. "Promised Sizhui I wouldn't bother you. But you know you can tell us anything right? I noticed you always grow quiet at times like this."

Jin Ling cast him a hesitant look. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know, Zizhen's failed attempt at romance?" he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Wait, hold up – I get it!"

Jin Ling slowly looked up, trepidation beginning to trickle in. "What."

"You're jealous!"

The contents of his stomach almost spilled back out until Jingyi proceeded, "You want to write those girls poems too! But you're bad at poetry!"

Jin Ling’s face flushed with a wave of indignance. "Who says I'm bad at poetry?"

"So you do take a fancy on those young ladies!"

By now, Jin Ling’s ears heated up, "I do not!"

"You know, they say denial is a pathway to revela—"

"I'm not into women!"

Now this revelation took both of them by surprise – if Lan Jingyi’s abrupt silence served any indication. Jin Ling was pretty sure everyone had stopped to look at him, pretty sure time had frozen. Before him, his friend blinked once, seeming too slow to grasp the message.

And fuck what did he just say? What did I just do?

So they both waited, as though someone else might flash a cue card on what to say next.

"Oh," Lan Jingyi expressed after a few seconds. Then, after a hard stare, he said it again with vehemence. "Oh. Oh shit."

[litlestpinkmoon]

Lan Jingyi: Why are your tongues purple? Jin Ling: We had slushies. I had a blue one. Lan Sizhui: I had a red one. Lan Jingyi: oh Lan Jingyi: Lan Jingyi: OH Ouyang Zizhen: Ouyang Zizhen: You drank each other's slushies?

[garden-ghoul]

Happy Gushiwensday Shabbes! We have a new poet today, one Ouyang Xiu, with one of his many poems to the tune of "Jade Tower in Spring."

Before the banquet, let me say: I do mean to come back. I want to say it to your face before I choke on tears. To be a living person is to be a fool for love, but our pain doesn't matter to the wind and the moon. I'll sing you a goodbye without writing you new words; a tune can teach the heart to knot itself so tight. We must see all the flowers in Luoyang, that peony town before the spring wind bids farewell again.

original text and notes under the cut.

玉楼春·尊前拟把归期说

尊前拟把归期说，欲语春容先惨咽。人生自是有情痴，此恨不关风与月。 离歌且莫翻新阕，一曲能教肠寸结。直须看尽洛城花，始共春风容易别。

Not much to say about this one---in many ways this is a refreshingly straightforward poem compared to a lot of the ones we translate! My main objectives here were to make it sound and feel good to recite, thus the metered verse and some extra alliteration.

your face --- it says "spring face" here, which is part of a metaphor I confess I don't understand about charming women? I would have liked to get the word spring in my translation because it feels like a bit of a motif, but it's a little too awkward in English.

fool for love --- 情痴 as a binome means lovesick or infatuated, but literally translated is like "foolish passion."

the wind and the moon --- I know the moon is a famously romantic object, and this is the second time now we've seen spring winds and flowers as a metaphor about fleeting passion. So I feel like this is a comment on how humans imbue these natural things with a lot of meaning, but that meaning only exists to us, not to the things themselves.

without writing you new words --- refers to the practice of writing new lyrics to old tunes, as Ouyang Xiu has done for this poem. I feel like it implies all human sorrow about love is the same, within error.

a tune can teach --- 教 would be better read as make or cause, but like, alliteration.

the heart to knot itself so tight --- very evocatively reads "the intestines knot an inch wide," like all that length and softness is becoming a tiny hard tense ball of unnameable emotion.

that peony town --- from Gushiwen's annotations, Luoyang was famous for its peonies. I've added the epithet for meter.

the spring wind bids farewell --- Gushiwen's plaintext translation suggested that the speaker and his lover are departing from the spring wind, I think, rather than the other way around? But I feel like the thing winds DO is they come and go 容易 easily.

[stiltonbasket]

local bird-loving tiger bao Jin An, watching his siblings terrorizing grandpa NHS' birds: (＃`Д´)!!! Baby is ready to fight! Birds are friends! An-bao is trying to stand guard over the aviary.

Jin Hong and Jin Xiu get their tails nipped more than once; Jin An is determined to protect his bird friends! If his older siblings must chase something, they can play tag with each other or drop in on the Nie disciples while they're doing sprinting drills. 😤

[annannjay]

mdzs art dump (from around 2020)

been sorting out all my art saved to my phone so expect me spamming this acc for a while with the ones i still like~

[seineko]

and every junior disciple under him was taught to live freely, question things that they do not understand and not blindly take in anything that was fed to them.

very different from how he lived for around 2 decades and, instead, very much similar to how wei wuxian did.

i always get emotional whenever i think about the juniors in mdzs who learned from lan wangji.

he made sure that the kids do not repeat his mistakes - of not being able to question the world about what is right and what is wrong, of not being able to fight back, until it was too late - that cost him his very life.

i always think that sizhui is almost a mini lan wangji. almost, because while he does embody a lot of the qualities of his adoptive father, he was also taught to not embody some by the very person himself. all that lan wangji failed because of what he was taught, should never be the reason that his own son did too (and that is the reason he is the best parent to ever).

The thing that I cannot get over about mdzs is that Lan Wangji lived for Wei Ying. So many romances revolve around being willing to die for each other, but theirs is a story of living for the other.

Lan Wangji built his life around the Wei Wuxian shaped hole in the world. He collected things that reminded him of wwx. Held on to trinkets from their time together. Branded himself with the same scars that wwx wore in life. Raised a-yuan in his stead.

And this is a bit of conjecture, but the Lan disciples were able to replicate wwx’s spirit flags exceptionally well. I like to think that lwj also kept wwx’s memory alive in his teachings to his disciples. That spark of brilliance living on in the next generation.

For thirteen years, lwj kept his love, his Wei Ying, alive through memory. Through the scars he once wore. The child he held dear. The inventions he created. Through his love. Thirteen years, that could have easily turned into the rest of his life had wwx not returned.

Wei Wuxian was never truly gone from this world, so long as Lan Wangji kept living for him.

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character Was/Would Be Most Insufferable Online Tournament Bracket

Beginning the evening of August 23rd, 2024 (USA time), I’ll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu web novel character was or would be most insufferable if given access to the internet.

FAQ:

Why this poll theme?

I thought it would be fun to run another big MXTX tournament bracket, since the bugpoll last year was a blast, and this was the funniest theme I could manage to think of.

Why isn't Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu in the bracket?

Given what we know about our dear Peerless Cucumber, I fear an SQQ sweep would be a foregone conclusion if I included him. Therefore, after the bracket finds a winner, I'll hold a bonus round and pit the winner against Shen Yuan to determine the true most internet-insufferable character.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

My goal is to hold one round per day every day for a week, but I'm contending with a full-time work schedule, so things may get slightly more stretched out than that. I'll also be splitting the first round into Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side of the bracket) to avoid spamming people's dashes with 32 separate polls in one day.

If you’d like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with “MXTX insufferapoll.”

The full list of matches is under the readmore here. Happy voting!

Round 1 Part 1:

Wen Chao vs Jin Guangshan

Quan Yizhen vs Mobei-jun

Mu Qingfang vs Ban Yue

Pei Xiu vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Jiang Yanli

Gongyi Xiao vs Lang Qianqiu

He Xuan vs Xue Yang

Lan Xichen vs Xiao Xingchen

Feng Xin vs Tianlang-jun

Wei Wuxian vs Liu Mingyan

Shi Qingxuan vs Nie Huaisang

Pei Ming vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Qi Rong

Lan Wangji vs Song Lan

Nie Mingjue vs Liu Qingge

Mei Nianqing vs Lan Qiren

Round 1 Part 2:

Ling Wen vs Jin Guangyao

Sha Hualing vs Mo Xuanyu

Lang Ying (Present) vs Lan Sizhui

Bai Wuxiang vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Ning Yingying

Jin Ling vs Ming Fan

Mu Qing vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Yu Ziyuan vs Yue Qingyuan

Xuan Ji vs Qiu Haitang

A-Qing vs Yin Yu

Wen Ning vs Zhuzhi-lang

Luo Binghe vs Wang Lingjiao

Wen Qing vs Yushi Huang

Hua Cheng vs Su She

Jin Zixuan vs Shi Wudu

Ouyang Zizhen vs Lan Jingyi

Round 2:

Wen Chao vs Quan Yizhen

Mu Qingfang vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Lang Qianqiu

Xue Yang vs Xiao Xingchen

Tianlang-jun vs Wei Wuxian

Nie Huaisang vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Wangji

Nie Mingjue vs Lan Qiren

Jin Guangyao vs Sha Hualing

Lang Ying (Present) vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Jin Ling

Mu Qing vs Yu Ziyuan

Xuan Ji vs a-Qing

Zhuzhi-lang vs Luo Binghe

Wen Qing vs Su She

Shi Wudu vs Lan Jingyi

Round 3:

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Lang Qianqiu vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Qiren

Sha Hualing vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jin Ling vs Mu Qing

Xuan Ji vs Luo Binghe

Su She vs Lan Jingyi

Quarterfinal:

Wen Chao vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Luo Binghe vs Su She

Semifinal:

Wen Chao vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Luo Binghe

Final:

Qi Rong vs Luo Binghe

Bonus:

Qi Rong vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Quality Control Time

okay everyone: realistically despite having read some since last tournament I can't have read all of these books as I am one person running a blog for funnies

so I'm posting a list after I've gone through the submissions and I'm counting on you guys to tell me if any of these submissions don't count (or if someone typoed something in the submission I didn't catch)

that said here are your (tentative) competitors:

Rune Saint-John- The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards

Quinn Saint Nicholas- The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards

Layne Dawncreek- The Hourglass Throne by KD Edwards

Silas Bell- The Spirit Bares it's Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 

Daphne Luckenbill- The Spirit Bares it's Teeth  by Andrew Joseph White 

Benjamin/Benji Woodside- Hell Followed with us by Andrew Joseph White 

Sideways Pike- The Spacegracers by HA Clarke

Tayend of Tremmelin- Magician’s Guild series (The Novice, The High Lord) by Trudi Canavan

Gideon Nav- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Ianthe Tridenarius, Ianthe the First- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Harrowhark Nonagesimus- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Dekka- Gone series by Michael Grant

Therem Harth rem ir Estraven- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Seregil í Korit Solun Meringil Bôkthersa- Luck in the shadows/the nightrunner series by Lynn Fleweling

Victor Vale- Vicious by VE Schwab

Alucard Emery- Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab

Rhy Maresh- Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab

Elliot Schafer- In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sebastian Black- The Sacred Sins of Father Black by St John Starling

Father Victor Ardelian- What Manner of Man by St John Starling

Wenren È- Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know by Cyan Wings

Zhu Chongba- She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Ouyang- She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Giovanni- Giovanni's room by James Baldwin

David- Giovanni's room by James Baldwin

Danny Tozer- Dreadnought by April Daniels

Magnus Bane- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Alec Lightwood- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Thomas Lightwood- The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare

Alastair Carstairs- The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare

Alex Fierro-Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

Magnus Chase- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

Nico di Angelo- The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan

Frances Janvier- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Nick Nelson- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Charlie Spring- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Tori Spring- Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Gwen (Princess Gwendoline)- Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Jack Alston/Lord Hawthorn- The Last Binding Trilogy by Freya Marske

Maud Blyth- The Last Binding Trilogy by Freya Marske

Robin Blyth- A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske

Silariathas “Silas”- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Nathaniel Thorn- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Ballister Blackheart- Nimona by N.D. Stevenson

Ambrosius Goldenloin- Nimona by N.D. Stevenson 

Neil Josten- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Andrew Minyard- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Nicky Hemick- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Xie Lian- Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx 

San Lang/ Hua Cheng- Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx 

Luo Binghe- The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Shen Qingqiu- The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Lan Wangji/ Lan Zhan/ Han Guang Jun- Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Wei WuXian/ Wei Ying/ Yiling Patriarch- Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Kelly Bennett- Heartsong by TJ Klune

Linus Baker- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Arthur Parnassus- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Laurent- Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Damianos (Damen)- Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Will Kempen- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

Sarcean- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

James St. Clair- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

Ronan Lynch- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Adam Parrish- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Loki- Loki- Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Theo Bell- Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Daniela- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Carmen- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Seonid Traighan Sedai- Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Siuan Sanche Sedai- Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Shallan Davar- The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson

Jasnah Kholin- The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson 

Jesper Fahey- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Wylan van Eck- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Nina Zenik- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Evelyn Hugo- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Moiraine Damodred Sedai- The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan 

Yan Wushi- 千秋 /Thousand Autumns/Qian Qu by Meng Xi Shi

Shen Qiao- 千秋/Qian Qiu/Thousand Autumn by Meng Xi Shi

Alex Claremont-Diaz- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Biyu "Jane" Su- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

August Landry- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Jolene Whitaker- Stars Still Fall by Jules Kelley

Jude St. Francis- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Francis Abernathy- The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Ishita Dey- Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Carmilla Karnstein- Carmilla by J Sheridan le Fanu

Murderbot- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Shuos Jedao- Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Achilles- Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

Patroclus- Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

Yin Hanjiang- Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know by Cyan Wings

Daja Kisubo- The Circle of Magic series, The Circle Opens series, The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce

Simon Torquill- October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire

Kade Bronson- Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Jack Wolcott- Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Sundew- Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland

Zanja Na'Tarwein- The Elemental Logic Series by Laurie J. Marks

Karis G'deon- The Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks

Thaniel Steepleton- The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Raff Barden- One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

Penn de Foucart- One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

Alec Campion- Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Richard St Vier- Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Nico Ferrer De Varona- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Parisa Kamali- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Sam Black Crow- American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Salim- American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Hunter- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Islington- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Tsukiko- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Zachary Ezra Rawlins- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Dorian- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Katrina- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Katherine- The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Geraldine- Christabel by Samuel Coleridge 

Priya- The Jasmine Throne/The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

Malini- The Jasmine Throne/The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

Henry Gaunt- In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Sidney Ellwood - In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Benji Ovich- Beartown by Frederik Backman

Renly Baratheon- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Loras Tyrell- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Oberyn Martell- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Ellaria Sand- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Ead Duryan- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Thara Celehar- The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Iäna Pel-Thenhior- The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Vanyel Ashkevron- The Last Herald-Mage Series (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, Magic's Promise) by Mercedes Lackey

Galen- Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher 

Doctor Piper- Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher 

Eliot Waugh- The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Simon Spier- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Bram Greenfield- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Leah Burke- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Abby Suso- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Jay Gatsby- Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie Mclemore

Harold Hutchins- Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Eric "Bitty" Bittle- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu 

Jack Zimmermann- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu 

Ollie O'Meara- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu

Pacer Wicks- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu

Maurice Hall- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Alec Scudder- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Clive Durham- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Cal Stephanides- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Therese Belivet- Carol or The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

Carol Aird- Carol or The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

Baz Pitch- Carry On Series by Rainbow Rowell

Tennalhin (Tennal) Halkana- Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell

Evander (Andy) Mills- Lavendar House by Lev Ac Rosen

Kaiiestron (Kai) l, Prince of the Fourth House of the Underearth- Witch King by Martha Wells

Max Owen- Magical Boy by The Kao

Remy Pendergast- Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

Ben De Backer- I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver

Nathan Allan- I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver

Genevieve Lefoux- The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

Maddie Morrow- Havenfall by Sara Holland

Catherine St. Day- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Lucy Muchelney- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Fetter- The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Leonie Jackman- Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Red- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 

Blue- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 

Rose- Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Li Shimin- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Cliopher Mdang- The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

Lily Hu- Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Patrick O’Hara- The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Ambrose Cusk- The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

Kodiak Celius- The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer