#chinese(simplified) fanfic

[dlthedescent]

Chinese(Simplified) Translation of The Descent

Super announcement to make for Dying Light lovers who enjoy DL fanfictions! A Chinese(Simplified) translation of Dying Light: The Descent has been started and maintained by the wonderful @is-gw. Give lots of love their way and if you have been looking forward to reading a translated fanfic, here is the link: https://b23.tv/283Mkh9

[olderthannetfic]

Dear US Americans,

Please stop getting angry at me, a Taiwanese, for saying a Taiwanese character can read Chinese. I don't know how to explain this but the alphabet doesn't shift so radically from the mainland that we can't read it. "Taiwan isn't China!" And the US isn't England but you read the English language. You're not Roman but you read the Roman alphabet. Am I calling you Roman when I say that? No. You're not stupid. Your civilization put humans on the moon. Think a little!

Love, A very tired fanfic author

--

Ahahaha. Oh god. I mean, it makes sense in terms of how people talk about Taiwan in English in the US, but... people, please.

Also, traditional characters 5eva! Boo, simplified, boo.

[danmeiconfession]

I'm going anonymous because I might get a lot of disagreement, but to me, Shen Yuan's character is very replaceable. He reads like a reader-insert, there to fix the story, which he canonically is. He's more of a "window dressing" because what's important is not who he is but the body he's in, which acts as the catalyst. His connection with the characters revolves around them, and even till the end, his outlook on them doesn't change. What I mean is, he isn't important in the way a main character would be, because although we follow his point of view, he's essentially just a window through which we view the story, so he feels disconnected.

He's funny, but what sets him apart from many other Chinese main characters besides his humor? Oh shit, the Main character has the hots for me seen that shit done millions of time.

He lacks so much compared to SJ that it's not even funny. I don't even know if the author did this unironically because how is the original character the one to steal the show in such a short time we get to know him, with the majority of fanfics dedicated to him because he's that interesting compared to the rest of the cast; he solos them all. Hate him or not, SJ fits more with MXTX brand of protagonists than SY, I'm sorry.

He doesn't grow; he's complacent, and the only thing he really gains in the end is Binghe's affection, which hinges on the identity of the body he is in. I've never read a story of a transmigrator who doesn't reveal their identity, especially in an MXTX work with Lan Zhan seeing through WWX the second the flute played. Let me tell you, many stories, especially in Chinese BL novels, simplify or villainies the original character to garner no sympathy, so to have your expectations flipped and realize that the allegations were wrong, and how you thought of him is like reading someone's story of WWX but with a different lens on the character, with everyone slandering him . To have the original character be a villain and be so important that just having someone else be him changes events is incredibly interesting.

The original character is so significant that he garners the enmity of three important ladies, earns the absolute hatred of the main character, and he single handidly profoundly influences the development of Yue Qingyuan and Luo Binghe, two of the most powerful characters in the book. Despite this, he isn't even the final villain; he's merely a starting point. The extent of his influence and power is truly remarkable.

He's too powerful. No wonder so many people make him the protagonist in AO3 look how loyal LQG was to SQQ. So many change of events you could do with this one singular character that SY isn't even on my radar of my fics to read.

.

[fortheloveofarchons]

Learning A New Language (A Getian x Zima fanfic)

Where Getian learns a new language to understand Zima better

Full chapter is on the link down below!

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Somehow, against every odds he can think of, the pure Mieming bird, who once only knew one language back in his homeland, manages to sit through the entire reading of old books without twitching his eyes or shutting the books close when he's midway reading them. 

Save the minor matter of his talons tapping against the marble floor with occasional tapping sounds, Getian is still and stately at the moment– shoulders back, his carved bird staff floating and flicking in the air to flip the pages. He even temporarily disabled one of his arcane skills, which is a spell that can allow him to understand anyone’s words without the use of his staff, just so that he could start learning the land of the Tsar’s language from scratch.  

Getian pauses and hums and raises his hand, allowing his staff to flick in the air while the page turns, moving on to the next one, which describes the complicated Russian words in detail. It’s something that he hasn’t read before, and now he has read them several times over. He’d mentally quiz himself immediately after shutting the books down, and would ask himself the definition of certain words. 

Asking someone to help quiz him would mean that he would have to explain his motives to them as to why he chose to learn a new language from scratch instead of using his arcane skills to automatically understand their words universally. The thought of having to explain this, especially to someone like Leonard, makes his ear paint peach hues.

As for his motives for learning Зима’s mother language manually, he had read a non-fiction book that’s titled as, A Guide To Understand Those That You Wish To Understand , and one of the main points that he read is that: 

“Knowing another's language and culture is essential for thoroughly understanding other people's points of view on a variety of issues. As general as it may appear, some global challenges, particularly wars between more than two countries, have been caused by a lack of awareness and understanding from one's own culture. Many cultures have their own set of cultural norms, which govern how they eat, sleep, talk, and even work. If a foreigner violates certain society norms, they will be isolated, humiliated, and labelled as ignorant since they do not comprehend how a new country runs. This can range from a micro conflict between two coworkers from different countries to affecting an entire meso community as a result of prejudices and stereotypes, and then it can escalate into a macro issue in which different countries have different conflicting belief systems while attempting to reach an agreement in order to avoid violating a Human Rights Act. Simply put, when in Rome, do as the Romans do." 

Getian highly doubts it's as serious as the author says, since the storm already puts everything and everyone out of proportion, but it is still something to think of. 

Plus, he couldn't stand by while Зимa struggled to communicate in a different language. Even if Зимa understands English and with Getian's arcane skill, but still… 

Hearing a quiet cough in the library, Getian further engrossed himself by reading the gold-embossed spines of the books where he had picked off a shelf– the latest edition of a Russian dictionary, which has both English and Chinese translations. 

Even better, the Chinese translations were not simplified, but in a traditional version. While the simplified version of the Chinese words were easy enough for him to understand, the traditional words were something that he was already used to understanding them. 

It’s almost like… a sense of nostalgia, from the amount of stroke orders that he wrote on with an ink brush when he composed poems and practised calligraphy. 

He did not realise he'd been burning the midnight oil until his face turned around to face the window, noticing that the light in the library felt a bit dimmer. 

“It’s getting late…” 

He looks down on the pile of books. 

“No, this is more important for now.” 

After reading and memorising the entire dictionary, the desk has become disorganised, with all of those Russian books, essays, and poetry anthologies spread around a wide oak table.

They haven’t spoken in two days, not since Getian woke up in the middle of the afternoon in the forest, his nose buried in Зима’s hair, breathing in the scent of his hair, and the fantasy of his whole body curled around Зима’s. He’d have his wing halfway to cocoon Зима’s body before he remembered how… odd it must’ve been. 

Is it normal for two acquaintances– friends to cuddle each other in a forest? 

And then Getian quite literally thrown himself out of Зима’s proximity, but only after he gently adjusted Зима’s back against the tree, Зимa’s coat covering his own body warm, and little Зима being included in too, tucking themselves in human Зима’s neck with his scarf. 

Now, the only light Getian has is the golden glow of a desk lamp. 

The words on the page– the cyrillic script flowing like foreign rivers– blurs before his hooded and motionless eyes. 

Dostoevsky… 

Tolstoy… 

Chekhov... 

A yawn escapes him, unbidden, his jaw stretching wide as his shoulders sagged. The weight of exhaustion settled in his limbs, heavy as lead. 

Blackness slowly encroaches on the edges of his vision. 

Then finally, his body betrayed him. 

The room is now silent save for the ticking of an antique clock on the far wall. 

[ironunderstands]

Its only westerners who think like this. I blame it on christianity.

Many asian religions and local gods are pretty benevolent. Not all ofc but there so many its not uncommon for some that would act like any of the archons weve met so far

But christanity has one god. And hes a mean fucker. Tbf the way most christians practice christianity is way scarier than it was meant to be. I sure hope you dont get alot of discourse from me saying this.

But yeah alot of how westerners view the archons is rooted in their own religious experiences and american centrism. (A little unrelated but it makes me so mad when i read a fanfic containing worship and such for zhongli... And its christian worship rituals instead of, at least, a little bit how chinese people would do it.)

Also this fandom is full of children that takes jokes too far and literally so you end up with a lot of people mischaracterizing them. Not even to mention the decline in media literacy and reading in general in american children.

Theres alot of problems and you cant really point it out to these people because they take it as an attack on their headcanons, themselves, and things in their life they couldn't really control since they are/were children. A lot of people are just plain unwilling to learn or be more open minded. Some dont even realize their narrow mindedness and when its pointed out to them they might become embarrassed and try to shut it out and defend themselves from a perceived threat on them or their intelligence and stuff like that.

Just something ive noticed from almost a decade in different fandoms.

Oh you are 100% right on this. I don’t even know what I could add, this is just correct. Also I did feel like it is Christianity, but most Christian’s (especially in America where I’m from) are extremely defensive about their religion and any and all criticism just feeds into their massive persecution complex (which is funny as the religion is a dominant part of mainstream American culture). However it would be unfair to Christians to blame them for the source of this misconception, especially because you mentioned other reasons that really have nothing to do with it. Also you can’t really blame young children for simplifying things, even if I admittedly find it super annoying anyways (mischaracterization is a bitch regardless of who does it)

[miraculous-pyromaniac]

I have been researching the Chinese bagua and connected martial arts of baguazhang for the past several hours trying to make sense of the Prodigious.

this isnt the first time ive done this either, ive done this many times, none to much avail

the wiki presents the Bagua, which i believe is a Taoist concept about the principals of reality or something. as an inspiration for the animals the user can transform into while using the Prodigious, which makes sense given that in the ending credits a page of Gabriel's research is shown showing some antient paper with a chinese trigram, a common symbol of the bagua, with various animals on each of the sections, thereby establishing our associations

in this we can see 5 of the 8 animals

the wiki gives us associated animals for the bottom 3 sections that are cut off but i cant find anything to back up these claims

Now there are many different sets of animals associated with the trigram's sections depending on what version of the bagua you're looking at, but the Trigram from Yin style baguazhang, a form of chinese martial art, seems the most similar to the list of animals we get from canon.

from what i can see, whoever at the Zag team made the prodigious either had a faulty source for his info, or took some creative liberties, because somethings just don't line up.

The monkey is the only thing correct here. tiger and lion are similar enough, as are eagle and pheonix. I don't know where the hell a mantis came from and the bottom three got shuffled by whoever wrote the wiki, im guessing. If it wasn't shuffled, bear would be correct, also horse and unicorn are close enough.

Ok so, random mantis instead of rooster and things got a little shuffled and simplified, but not too bad i guess.

The wiki also tells us what element each animal is associated with. these actually seem accurate other than thunder and mountain being swapped.

If one were to unshuffle the animals and add correct associated elements, the prodigious would have these associations to the elements.

Also i couldn't find anything about the various values one has to use to have to use the various powers of the Prodigious. The closes thing i found was Japanese bushido but that obviously doesn't make sense to associate bc Chinese and Japanese cultures and believes are very distinct.

anyway none of this matters to the normal miraculous viewer, just nerds and fanfic writers who want to play around with the Prodigious.

[nyxelestia]

Seeing as apparently FFN is about to die or people are already unable to access it, just saving this screenshot. While I was in fandom on other platforms and under other names before I joined FFN, this was the oldest profile/account I had that was still continuously running as of June 2023.

I’m putting the complete profile below the cut for my own personal reference/nostalgia. (Prior to the proliferation of machine translation and language websites, I collected translations of “Hi, I’m Nyxie” from fans for years.) This is also my record of my original construction of my current name/identity.

Author has written 87 stories for Harry Potter, Psych, StarTrek: Voyager, Alex Rider, Merlin, Legend of Korra, Avengers, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Breaking Bad.

I do not accept requests!

(But I do still accept new languages for my greetings list below!)

I'm afraid I don't really hang out here, anymore. Come find me on Tumblr and AO3, where my much more recent - and thus much better - fanfic is now posted.

Hi. I'm Nyxie. - English (My first language)

Hola. Me llamo Niksi. - Spanish (My second language that I forgot as soon as I left high school)

নমস্কার. আমার নাম Nyxie. (Nômoshkar. Amaar nam Niksshi.) (My other first language that I have now mostly forgotten) - Bengali

Bonjour. Je m'appelle Neiksi. - French (Courtesy of Arithilim)

Salut. Je m'appelle Neiksi. - French, alternative greeting (Courtesy of Jaygirl94)

Hallo. Ich heisse Niksie. (Courtesy of MadCatta) - German

Ciao. Mi chiamo Nyxie. (Courtesy of Iamawesome) - Italian

Hallo. Ik heet Niksie. (Courtesy of Amore) - Dutch, Formal

Hallo. Ik ben Niksie. (Courtesy of katelinmr) - Dutch, Informal

Niksii اسمي .وسهلاً. (Ahlan. Ana ismii Nyxie.) (Courtesy of HallowedInk) - Arabic

Čao. Zovem se Niksi. (Courtesy of a family friend) - Croatian

Hajimimashite. Nyxie desu. (Courtesy of Le Sang De La Morte) - Japanese, with edits from Dark's Mistress

Konnichiwa. O namae wa Nikuse desu. (Courtesy of Cararook) - Japanese, with edits from Whisper-Otonashi

こんにちはわたしはニクシです。(Konichiwa. Watashi wa Nyxie desu.) (Courtesy of SecretMangaLover) - Japanese, with edits from Whisper-Otonashi and Dark's Mistress

你好，我叫 Nyxie。(Nǐ hǎo. Wǒ jiào Nyxie.) (Courtesy of t8t8t8) - Mandarin Chinese Simplified

Shwmae. Nicsi ydw i. (S'huhmai. Nyxie iudu ih.) (Courtesy of rhymneyfairies) - Welsh

नमस्ते। मेरा नाम Nyxie. (Namaste. Mera nam Nyxie.) (Courtesy of my dad) - Hindi

Hei. Jeg heter Nyksi. (Courtesy of Gin Dyps) - Norwegian

Mabuhay. Ako si Nyxie (Courtesy of ikot-ikot) - Tagalog

Boozhoo. Niksii indizhinikaaz. (Courtesy of goddess of all daleks) - Ojibwe

Cześć. Nazywam się Nyksi. (Courtesy of water kangaroo) - Polish

שלום. שמי ניקסי (Shalom. Shmi Nyxie.) (Courtesy of TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics) - Hebrew

Hej. Jag heter Niksi. (Courtesy of Barbasulrico) - Swedish

Καλημέρα. Μου όνομα ρήμ Νικσι. (Kalimera. Mou onoma rhim Nyxie.) (Courtesy of TribalForEagle) - Greek

Καλημέρα. Το ονομά μου είναι Νίξι. (Kalimera. To onoma mou ine Nyxie.) (Courtesy of roxake19) - Greek, alternative

Apa khabar. Saya Nixie. (Courtesy of Akira Setsuka) - Malay

Halo. Nama saya Nyxie. (Courtesy of biota9) - Indonesian

Sziasztok! A nevem Nikszi. (Courtesy of Amirea) - Hungarian

Labdien. Mans vārds ir Niksi. (Couresty of Lindala) - Latvian

నమసారము. నా పేరు నిక్సి. (Namaskaramu. Naa peru Nyxie.) - (Courtesty of Shadow's Life) - Telugu

Hei! Minä olen Niksi. (Courtesy of Jaleine) - Finnish

안녕, 내 이름은 닉시야. (Ahn nyung! Nae ee reum eun Nyxie ya.) (Courtesy of JackieDanielStark) - Korean

Ellohay, ymay amenay isway Yxienay. (Courtesy of WiccaKat) - Pig Latin

Oi, meu nome é Nixi. (Courtesy of Hedwig Edwiges) - Brazilian Portuguese

Dia daoibh. Is mise Nicsi. (Dee-a deev. Is mishuh Nyxie.) (Courtesy of Dolorosa) - Irish

'O Nīkī ko'u inoa. (Courtesy of Draconic Caduceus) - Hawaiian

Salve! Nomen mihi Nyxia est. (Courtesy of lege et lacrima) - Latin

Здравейте. Аз съм Nyxie (Zdraveite. Az sum Nyxie.) (Courtesy of ColiexChaos) - Bulgarian

Buna. Ma numesc Nixi. (Courtesy of Aralinne) - Romanian

Привет. Меня завут Никси. (Privyet. Menya zavut Nixie.) (Courtesy of lpgirl14) - Russian

Hej. Jeg hedder Nyxie. (Courtesy of Lady Drace) - Danish

سلام!میرانامﻧﻜﺲ.ہے (Salam! Mera naam Niksi hai.) (Courtesy of silkchemise) - Urdu

Gude, nem bilong mi Nyxie. (Courtesy of Scooterstripes) - Papua New Guinean Tok Pisin/Neo-Melanesian

(I don't know if all of them are right - if you see something is incorrect, please let me know.)

Additional languages to say this in are always much appreciated (including, if possible, the characters/spellings for my name). Thank you very much to those who have already given me the extra languages. 45 greetings in 39 languages and counting!

Random Personal Information

Name: Just call me Nyxie

Age: Old enough to read what I write

Location: California

What's In A Name

Nyx is the ancient Greek goddess of the Night, known for having sway over Man and God, and even Zeus didn't like to upset her. She gave birth to many powerful spirits and deities, and is often referred to as a sister of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the sons of Cronus and Rhea and the fathers and leaders of the gods. She is fond of mischief and mystery. Every night, she casts the darkness so the stars can come out the play, and every morning, she sends them back to sleep.

'-elestia' comes from 'celestial', because I love the night sky and am an occasional space geek (I've even been to space camp). I dropped the ending l for a smoother sounding name. Along with which, "Celestia" is a computer program for space viewing, and what a lovely program it is...not to mention the fact I'm on a computer so much. I dropped the c for easier spelling.

Nyx celestial - c - l = Nyxelestia

Enjoy my fics! No matter how old the fic is, reviews are always appreciated. :)

[asksythe]

i was watching black panther wakanda forever and for some reason i thought of your writing. it had the sophisticated fantasy civilization vibes i see a lot in your fics, but the charged atmosphere between two foreign rulers probably had something to do with that too 😂 hope all is well with you!!

Awww!

Thanks! That's a very kind compliment. I've been doing... as well as can be considering all the things that are happening all around the world. But really, I've been doing well. Married life is busy and hectic... but well worth it.

My work is really good right now. As in, I'm up to my eyeballs in work. It's also one major reason why I haven't written much fanfic lately. I'm learning a new language too: Mandarin Chinese (simplified). I'm at level HSK3. I hope to one day be able to read and write professionally in Mandarin. At the moment, when I have some spare time, I translate Chinese stories and fanfics (mainly Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfics) into Vietnamese as practice. I'm considering translating them into English too since at least one of my friends would really love to read some.

Some homemade pho!!

[cha-melodius]

Hi Cha! I’ve read ur CIA&MI6 au of rwrb fanfic and I’m really into it. I’m wondering if I can have ur authorization to translate this into simplified Chinese, that will be appreciated!

Hi! Thanks so much for your message, I'm so glad you enjoyed the fic! I'm happy to grant translation permission for any of my fics, I just ask that people use the "translations" feature on AO3 to link back to the original work.

[akanothere]

KakaSaku: Film poster from an undercover mission as cast members

(A collaboration with 辣辣. You can find her romantic comedy KKSK fanfic “When The Whole Crew Is Matchmakers!” in simplified Chinese on Lofter✨)

[ao3feed-snape]

This is just sex, Lupin

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/aJTPgiH

by catherinaqy

What if a relationship is based purely out of sex? Would there ever be love coming from this intimate relationship? A Dom/sub story, with just a hint of emotions running underneath.

A self-translation of my fanfic, originally posted in Simplified Chinese. The original work is finished, I will be updating this as I translate.

Words: 6332, Chapters: 2/13, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin

Relationships: Sirius Black/Severus Snape, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin/Severus Snape

Additional Tags: Dom/sub, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Slut Shaming, Dirty Talk, Sub Severus Snape, Dom Remus Lupin, Voyeurism, Kink Negotiation, author will add on as the work goes

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/aJTPgiH

[olderthannetfic]

Fuck I was reading a Chinese fic on ao3 and I was confused as to why my reading speed was slower than usual. Then I realized that it was in Traditional Chinese of course I was slower 😂 It's lowkey a problem I only encounter on ao3 too, since Chinese fanfic/novel websites tend to naturally segregate traditional and simplified purely due to target demographics ime

--

TRADITIONAL ARE PRETTIER!

[muttthecowcatridesagain]

Untamed thoughts 1

I finally started watching The Untamed after I have finished reading the novel.  These are just some of my thoughts after watching the first 2-3 epidsodes:

1) so apparently wei wuxian apparently canonically looks like himself here instead of Mo Xuanyu - that’s why he keeps wearing the mask. I didn’t realize this but now it explains why some of the fanart based on this adaptation looks that way. It also makes since that they would do this to explain why his actor looks the same in both time periods

2) I’m really enjoying it so far - the first 2 episodes were very funny!! Also as someone who hasn’t really read much about xianxia before reading mxtx novels or knows much about Chinese history/fantasy, the setting really helps me visualize what some of the architecture and clothing is supposed to look like in the novels.

3) the things that bother me are all the common novel to movie adaptation problems I think - but there are a lot of them.

          - The condensed “16 years ago” timeline - I don’t feel like condensing it this much makes a whole lot of sense other than justifying that the actors look

the same age the whole time?? but i would have gone with it if they said they were even younger          - Wen Ruohan has a “larger” I guess villain arc than what I think he really needs. Why does there need to be a yin iron?? Where is my full arc of wei wuxian bothering lan wanji at cloud recesses?? LOL          - those I can live with but the one thing that really bothers me is Lan Wanji’s characterization here!!  They’ve “simplified” it I guess is the best way for me to explain it. Which makes sense for a movie adaptation I think - so it’s not necessarily unexpected or unjustified. In the novel - we’re first introduced to Lan Wanji when he is young - supposedly younger than when we meet him in the Untamed. He’s a stickler for the rules - but he’s never put in a situation where he refuses an entire clan entry to cloud recesses or singles wwx out without a justification. The cloud recesses arc in the novel focuses on wwx acting up during his time at cloud recesses and butting heads with lwj. Then as he gets older they continue to butt heads out of his concern for wwx. I feel like the way we’re introduced to young lwj in the untamed makes it seem like he’s such a stickler for the rules that it destroys some of his compassion for others -- which is not a thing in the novel especially as he gets older. This does make sense why some of the fanfic I have read that is based off the untamed rather than the novel seemed ooc for lwj - it aligns with his character in this adaptation.          - the last major change I feel like is jiang cheng’s characterization. Again it’s “simplified” which makes sense for a movie BUT he’s more of a “villain” here, giving wwx the final blow and everything

Thanks for letting me word vomit here. And if you made it to the end - thanks for reading!! What are your thoughts on the different adaptations?

[letteredlettered]

hi! ive been following your writing for a few years now and i drop by periodically to check if you have anything new posted, and im really surprised that you seem to be enjoying the untamed? im curious what you think about the show - its story and characters, the acting, the production, etc. idk if you know, but the untamed is the most successful example of a current trend in chinese entertainment, where popular online novels centered around a gay romance is adapted into a 'safe' drama.

continued:

due to the many explicit and implicit restrictions imposed on creative media in china, many crucial plot points have to be changed (often badly) or removed, including the nature of the relationship between the main characters. the untamed is considered the most loyal adaptation so far, but like all other works in the genre, it received criticism for weak acting and queerbaiting. that's why im really curious about what you think of the show as it is, as itself, free from its context.

if you're interested, you could also check out guardian! it features much better performance and chemistry by the leads imo, but the story was heavily botched bc the original incorporates and reinvents a lot of classic chinese folklore beautifully and stuff like that is considered disrespectful and not-pc. i think it's really sad how so many great pieces of writing with complex world-building and plotlines are simplified into... idek what to call them, but just, less than what they are.

im sorry this turned into a rant. as a mainland chinese person with oh so many frustrations about our current society, it's hard to comprehensively describe my feelings about the untamed's popularity. it's the first mainland chinese show/movie to gain this much organic interest abroad so i should be glad? but, but. anyway, yes, im sorry.

There’s no need to apologize for ranting, but I admit to some confusion as to whether you want your question addressed or the rant. Because I’m me and tend to be thorough, I’ll address everything, in reverse order.

First of all, I’m sorry that this show is sad to you. I’m sorry that the popularity of it is difficult. I’m also deeply sympathetic to your frustrations about your society, as I too am deeply frustrated by my own.

Secondly, yes, I’m aware of the context of The Untamed. I’m aware that the book it’s based on is a BL novel, and that, in order to align with Chinese politics, overt queerness was erased from the adaptation. I’m aware of the censure laws of gay media in China. I’m also aware that some aspects of necromancy and morality were adjusted to make the show more palatable for general audiences, but I’m fuzzier on those details. Lastly, I’m aware that the popularity of the show calls attention to certain things, such as fanfic, and that attention results in more censorship,

The fact of this erasure and this censure provokes a lot of questions: by consuming this product, which contains erasure and censure, do we engage in the erasure and censure? By posting gifs and writing fanfic and talking about this product, do we increase its popularity, thereby encouraging additional erasure and censure? By increasing the popularity of this product, do we diminish the popularity of the original gay morally gray canon, thereby decreasing representation? Do we discourage other authors in China from writing explicitly gay morally gray material? In short, are we allowed to enjoy this media?

I don’t know the answer to these questions. However, I do know that boycott is a very effective tool when it can inflict economic pain on the producer, or when it can exert pressure on an entity to change. That said, I feel like a lot of the calls to boycott certain media these days are a lot like telling people to stop driving their cars to stop climate change: it’s suggesting that individuals can solve the problem, which presupposes individuals are the problem, and therefore fails to address the scope of the problem, or present the possibility of a real solution. Not watching The Untamed isn’t going to change laws about portrayals of homosexuality onscreen in China, partly because the laws in China are a much bigger problem.

The other part of it is that The Untamed is coded queer, so if you run a successful boycott against it, you end up with . . . less queer TV. I know a whole lot less about China than I do about the Hays Code, but if you had told gay people during the Golden Age of Hollywood that they couldn’t enjoy movies that were coded queer because they weren’t explicitly queer, they’d have said you were crazy. In fact, many people will tell you that media that was coded queer was a big reason we got more explicit queer stuff later. And as I’m sure you’re aware, the US is still fighting that battle . . . partly because it wants to sell movies to China.

So then there’s a question about whether me, an American in the US, liking something coded queer from China but not explicitly queer--does that encourage Chinese censorship? Should I only support texts that are explicitly queer? But the answer is the same--it’s not addressing the scope of the problem, and by supporting texts that are coded queer, you could be paving the way in the future for something brighter.

But you weren’t talking about boycott! You were talking about your discomfort with the popularity with this show, which I accept. I understand feeling uncomfortable. I can only hope it makes you a bit more comfortable to know that plenty of fans are deeply aware of the context and do wrestle with the question of what liking this show means in the context of a society that would never allow aspects of the original to be portrayed onscreen.

Thirdly, I’m not against trying Guardian at some point, but by comparing the acting and chemistry of the leads to The Untamed, I feel like you prove our tastes are very different in these regards. I love the acting of the leads in The Untamed; I found their chemistry off the charts. It’s okay you don’t feel the same.

Lastly, you asked my opinion of The Untamed: its story and characters, the acting, the production, sans context of the canon upon which its based and censorship laws in China.

a. I love the overall story, but the plot has deep plot holes. Quite a few segments do not actually make sense to me, because the plot is so haywire. However, I’ve never cared that much about plot, except when it gets in the way of characters and themes, and for the most part, this plot serves its characters and themes, except when the parts they leave out are so confusing that I cannot follow the story. As for the story, it feels like it’s built for me, because ultimately it’s about moral decisions and how to make them; it’s about guilt and paying for mistakes; it’s about learning, changing your mind, and remaking yourself. Really, I’m not sure there are many stories I love more--except they killed my favorite character, and I almost quit. So, that certainly put a damper on things.

b. I love the characters most of all, although the villains are really two-dimensional. However, large parts of the plot are not Hero vs Villain, they’re Hero vs Society, and then some Hero vs Himself in a way that suggests the Hero is no longer a hero. I could talk about the characters forever, but suffice it to say I think they’re really strong. Also, the relationships are really exquisite, particularly when it comes to family dynamics. Unfortunately, they killed my favorite character off. Also unfortunately, there are six women in this show, only two of them are main characters, and every single one of them dies. It disgusts me.

c. I think the two leads are exceptional, in particular Xiao Zhan . . . when he’s not being too broad, which he is quite a bit. However, I do wonder how much of this is direction and production style, because in many instances, he’s quite subtle, and the choices he makes are astounding. Then there are times where it’s like they needed more footage, or wanted to drive home a point, and he turns on the extra, and it’s awful. It could just be him, but I actually feel it’s the case with most of the actors, which does make me think it’s a directing issue. Meng Ziyi never really has that problem though, because she is the most perfect of all. But then take He Peng, who I actually thought could be incredible, but every scene was just SO BROAD that I began to feel sorry for the poor dude having to act that part. But there is nothing to be said for Wang Zhuo Cheng, who really is just terrible, which is sad, because it’s a great part.

d. Production-wise, it’s really hit and miss. So much of the locations are truly beautiful. A lot of the costumes are too, unless the shot is too close. I actually don’t mind the wigs; I love the long hair. The CGI is terrible. And then while a lot of the shots are beautiful, some of them are awkward, and the pacing is really difficult, imo. It really seems like they wanted to drag it out, and there are so, so many scenes where I’m sort of embarrassed that we’re in the same scene or that we’re still looking at someone’s face, or that everyone is just standing there waiting for the shot to finally end.

I will say that film is a language that does differ from culture to culture. It could be that both the broadness of the acting and the awkwardness of the editing are my cultural lens based on American and a lot of western film. When I watched older Hollywood films, the acting is a lot more broad and maybe a little less “true” feeling, but I understand that it’s not the case everyone in the past was a bad actor. It was just a different style, so I’m not sure I’m equipped with the cultural knowledge of Chinese acting, cinematography, and editing to be able to really judge the value of these things.

I do know how I feel, which is that the editing is the biggest hurdle for me while watching the show. However, I feel that the beauty of it makes up for a lot, and the strength of the characters and themes really carries it.

I hope I addressed your points adequately, and I wish you well.

[what-a-treat-nz]

World Book Challenge: China

Officially, the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion. It covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, and is officially divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

The areas in dark green are under direct Chinese control; the areas in light green (Tibet and Taiwan) are contested. For the purposes of this challenge, I’m treating China, Tibet and Taiwan as three separate countries. Because I can.

Number of Chinese people in New Zealand: As of the 2013 Census, there were 163,104 people of “Chinese (not further defined)” ethnicity in New Zealand - 10,008 of those were in Wellington City.

Have I been there? Yes! I visited Shanghai with my Dad in December 2011. I bought a really nice coat, had tea that tasted like warm Fanta (it was oddly addictive), and got hugged by Dave Grohl. So, the usual Chinese experiences, really.

I also had Peking Duck for the first time in my life, and holy hell I didn’t know what I was missing. I’ve tried to make up for it by eating copious amounts of it since.

The books

For “China” on my reading challenge, I read three fantasy novels - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and the final two books of the Poppy War trilogy (The Dragon Republic and The Burning God) by R. F. Kuang, a Chinese-American author.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (魔道祖师 / Mó Dào Zǔ Shī)

(Book 30 of 2021)

Given the fact that I have an entire subsection of my blog about how much I love the live-action TV show based on this book, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that I had Mó Dào Zǔ Shī at the top of my list of Chinese books to read.

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī tells the story of Wei Wuxian, a loathed cultivator of dark and demonic arts who resurrects 16 years after his tragic death. His return to the world brings him to reunite with the people in his first life, including his soulmate, the honored Lan Wangji (who mourned him for 16 years, during which he branded himself with the same mark as Wei Wuxian and kept his memory alive and I’m okay, I promise). Wei Wuxian then begins to remember his time before his demise 16 years ago, from his beginnings as a young cultivator to his descent to dark magic. Together, they solve a mystery linked to a dark tragedy from Wei Wuxian’s first life, then live happily ever after.

This novel was originally published on the Chinese web novel site JJWXC from October 31, 2015 - March 1, 2016, with additional side stories that continue to be released sporadically. The revised version of the main story was later published online until September 7, 2016. A paperback version was released on December 12, 2016, with a total of four volumes in traditional Chinese. The first of three planned volumes in simplified Chinese, titled Wuji, was released in 2018, but release of the following installments has stalled after the locking of the novel on JJWXC since January 2019.

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī isn’t officially available in English, and given that it depicts an explicit danmei relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, I don’t think we’ll ever see an official version. Though there are official translations into Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Russian, Japanese, and Burmese, and the tour for the TV traveled to Toronto, Los Angeles and New York, so maybe one day there will be an official translation.

For now though, you can read the entire novel for free at Exiled Rebels Scanlations, where it has been translated in full by a then-highschooler called “K-san”. It’s hard to actually judge the merits of the writing of the original novel, given I was reading an unofficial translation, but that was actually half of the sweetness of it. It was kinda rough - K-san tweaked the terms they used as they gained more confidence with the translation, and I enjoyed reading the translator and editor notes that accompanied most chapters - especially notes such as “we’re translating as fast as we can, stop asking for faster updates!”. It felt really organic and friendly, and the story is good (though much gorier than the TV show and good god boys, learn what lube is, it’ll make your lives better I promise).

I read the book more as a companion to the TV show though, rather than a novel on it’s own merits, so I’m not sure I can judge it as a novel on it’s own merits. Though the book did teach me one very important piece of information: Lan Wangji canonically smells of sandalwood.

Would I read it again? If an official English translation comes out, I’d probably read that. I’m more likely to watch the TV show again, or dive into one of the sesquillion Untamed fanfics on AO3 ( Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn was the most popular ship on AO3 in 2020, with 12,878 new works about these characters being published that year).

The Dragon Republic and The Burning God

(Books 34 and 35 of 2021)

I read The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic back in September 2019 (when I wasn’t counting how many books I was reading, but I did have a record of them), and I decided to re-read The Dragon Republic because I couldn’t exactly remember where the story was up to.

And it’s a good thing I did, as something I thought happened at the end of The Dragon Republic actually happened at the end of The Poppy War, so oops?

The Poppy War trilogy is a grimdark fantasy novel set in fantasy China, with a Chinese protagonist and written by a Chinese-American author. It’s spectacular. The trilogy draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century China, though it’s atmosphere is more inspired by the Song dynasty. The conflict in the first book is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War (though this time, it’s the Chinese empire against the Japanese empire), in the second on the start of the Chinese civil war (Chinese empire against nascent Republican movement), and in the third on the end of Chinese civil war (Republicans versus not-Republicans).

It’s a massive trilogy. It’s incredibly complex, with a huge scale and massive numbers of characters, though the fact it’s all seen through Rin’s eyes (with the occasional first and last chapter from the point of view of other characters) helps.

The story follows that of Fang Runin, better known as Rin, a poor war orphan in southern Nikara who trains in secret to test into the elite Sinegard Academy. Throughout the trilogy she deals with racism, sexism, elitism...most of the isms, really. Author R.F. Kuang said that Rin's life is meant to parallel the trajectory of Mao Zedong, and I had fun trying to match events in Chinese history to the events in the book (the easiest ones to spot are the Rape of Nanjing, the nuclear bombing of Japan and the Long March).

I don’t remember Mao Zedong having the power to call on a fire god, however. It’s probably a good thing that’s not something that happened in real life China, as Mao’s policies killed enough people without him literally being able to spit fire.

I described the first book as “If Kvothe from The Name of the Wind was female, Chinese, and allowed to say fuck.” Those two books felt really similar to me - they’re very much your “outsider is accepted to elite academy, winds up pissing off most of their classmates and chooses an obscure major to specialise in before being thrown into a conflict they are key to winning.” But honestly, I preferred the Poppy War trilogy, even if the final book did get super dark.

Rin is a really refreshing character, and the world seen through her eyes is a very different place to one I’m used to reading about. Kuang said that she "chose to write a fantasy reinterpretation of China's twentieth century, because that was the kind of story I wasn't finding on bookshelves", and I’m so glad she did. The world needs more books like this. I’m as pasty and as white as they come, and I loved reading a book where the heroine was authentically Chinese. This isn’t a pakeha author trying to fit themselves into someone else’s shoes - this is someone with a deep understanding of Chinese military history and collective trauma using that understanding and pain to build a new fantasy world.

I loved it, and if you can stomach war scenes, I recommend this trilogy.

Will I read the Poppy War trilogy again? I might do. It’s a bit darker and more desperate than I usually read - particularly The Burning God - but I did enjoy them. So that’s a firm “never say never”.

Bonus book! 

These Violent Delights

I read NZ-Chinese author Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights earlier this year (book number 20 of 2021), before I set myself this challenge, so it doesn’t technically count as an entry for “China” in my book challenge. But it is amazing, and I love it, so I wanted to give it a quick shout out here (because if we’re talking fantasy reimaginings of Chinese 20th century history by Chinese diaspora authors...).

These Violent Delights relocates the story of Romeo and Juliet to 1920s Shanghai, casting the two leads as the heirs to rival gangs. It’s brilliant, it’s beautiful, there were sentences that made me stop and gasp for the sheer delight of having read them, and there’s a monster made of bugs driving the citizens of Shanghai insane. The way Gong has woven the characters from the play into their 1920s counterparts is delightful (I say this as someone who’s never actually read the play, though I think I saw the Leonardo DiCaprio movie because it was difficult to be a tween in the late 90s and not be exposed to his films).

15/10, would definitely read it again, it’s been on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks for a very, very good reason. Stop reading this blog and go get a copy. Now.

The feast

I admit, using China as my first country may have been a bit of a cop out, given my familiarity with Chinese food - though, living in a Western country, I’ve probably eaten more Westernised Chinese food than authentic Chinese food.

Which is why I was chuffed to learn that spring rolls are, actually, authentic Chinese food. I always thought they were a Westernisation, like sweet and sour pork or fortune cookies.

For my Chinese feast, I turned to The Woks of Life, a delightful Chinese cooking blog that I can’t open without being inspired to cook like 9 million things.

When I started this project, I originally was only going to cook one dish from each country. I figured I’d go easy on myself for China, and make 花生酥 (hua sheng su), a traditional sesame peanut brittle.

It’s something I’ve made before - I make little bags of it for my colleagues each lunar new year.

I don’t follow the Woks of Life recipe exactly - for example, I’ve never once roasted and shelled my own peanuts. I tend to use a mix of blanched and pre-roasted peanuts in my 花生酥, and I think it comes out okay. Next time I’m going to increase the amount of sugar I use - I find that 270g of rock sugar is not quite enough to cover the peanuts totally. Which is a pain. Next time I think I’ll use 300g, and turn the heating on in my kitchen so it’s warmer, to stop the brittle from hardening before I can properly get it into the tray to cool.

But then I changed my mind, and decided to throw a full on feast.

For the feast I threw, I made two more dishes from the Woks of Life - Easy Peking Duck with Mandarin Pancakes, and 年糕 (nian gao), or stir-fried rice cakes (though I did them with chicken, not pork, as that’s what I had in my freezer). I also cooked up some spring rolls, as I had them leftover in my freezer from my housewarming (for which I over catered, because I cannot do anything but over cater any event I throw). I should have marinated the duck longer. That one was on me.

I also made some 核桃酥 (he tao su), walnut cookies, which were delicious and I definitely want to make again. I think I’ll add some hazelnuts in as well for additional crunch, and make them slightly smaller - they were 12 very big cookies.

But delicious cookies.

Kisu was most distressed that we did not feed her anything from this feast.

The Playlist

I ended up finding this “Chinese Indie & Rock” playlist on Spotify, which I really enjoyed. I could understand none of the songs, but I enjoyed the heck out of a lot of them. I’ll probably keep listening to this playlist - they were definitely my sort of jams.

[erotikkook]

Requests

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