#cnovel recommendations

[blobofcolour]

Binged read 第一侯 The First Marquis by 希行 a few weeks back and since then I can’t find something new to scratch my reading itch. The synopsis of other Xi Xing’s novels don’t catch my eye, but pls let me know if there’s something by Xi Xing that I shouldn’t miss out on!

The trailers for cdrama The Double got me interested in its original novel 嫡嫁千金 Marriage of the Di Daughter, but I’m mid way through it and it’s doing nothing for me. I conclude that I simply don’t vibe with 千山茶客 Qian Shan Cha Ke’s writing cos I similarly didn’t care much for the characters in Rebirth of a Star General 女将星 (tho I did finish reading that one).

On a female general related note, I on the other hand absolutely loved 将嫁 Jiang Jia by 绕梁三日 where the description/experiences of our FL felt so raw and real, as what I would expect of an actual general. Star General was too idol drama-y that I can’t take the FL seriously as a general. But then again, Jiang Jia is really about the FL’s journey as a war-weary general suffering from PTSD trying to find a sliver of peace, and the story and writing style is probably not for everyone.

Anyways. I need another cnovel!

[muqingapologist]

i want to read at least one more danmei this year, and i have a few options. honestly my top choice is qiang jin jiu. i have the first official english translation volume, but to be honest i hate just reading a chunk of it every few months because i find it so hard to get invested that way. i also have a full fan translation on my phone, but i’m not sure if the quality is comparable to the official (could someone tell me? it says edited by suika). so can anyone lmk what they think i should do here? like is the fan translation good enough to justify reading it all now, or should i just wait for all ELEVEN volumes of the official (over a year…) to come out?

i am also having this same dilemma with peerless if anyone has any input about that, as well.

otherwise, i’m open to recommendations :)

[trenchcoat-full-of-recs]

Favourite fics of 2023

Now that the year is over, I figured I'd cast my eye back over the previous year to see what were my favourite fics I discovered that year. Notably, they may not have been published last year--just the ones that I read during that time period.

I have absolutely no idea what they will be, so I'm curious to dive into my bookmarks...

MDZS/CQL

Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark -- oooh, apparently it was last year that I consumed this. It's a behemoth of a story at over 700k words; it's a slowly sprawling tale, and I read and reread it during the same year. And it's been one of the rare WIPs that I have been following faithfully. It's an AU in which WWX and LWJ, early on during the Gusu lectures, have the extra-canonical chapters' dreams about each other (that's to say, the ravishing in the library and the peaceful domesticity) and this triggers them realizing their feelings, which in turn changes rather a lot of things. This sounds underwhelming, but the fic really is very good and rather epic in scope! I have appreciated how it depicts WWX--intensely intelligent, precocious, but in need of guidance; and he and LWJ are darling together. I only hope it keeps being this good for the next 700k words or however much it takes!

You'll See Me Again by anon -- oh man, I loved this one. It's sadly a short-ish WIP (12k> words), but the concept is brilliant: it's NHS, who's time-travelled back and is determined to fix everything by getting WWX as his younger brother, and it's told from NMJ's baffled point of view. It's very good! I just wish it were longer.

Mourning Dove by jaemyun - a WIP featuring a dark LWJ who's very fed up with the hypocrisy of the cultivation world. Hasn't updated in a while, though...

SVSSS

This was the year I read SVSSS! Boy, did I ever love it. This naturally unlocked a new fandom for me, so here are some of my favourite fics:

A Transmigrator and a Time Traveler Walk Into the Bamboo House by VeryCharismaticDragon - this is super lovely! This is Binghe who time-travels from after SQQ's self-destruction to the start of the story. And he's determined to change things, even as he's trying to understand them. The whole thing is great.

The More You Don't Know by Neery - this is sweet and angsty in just the right way. Binghe is convinced SQQ only loves him because he doesn't realize he's a demon, and does his best to hide. (There's also a canon divergence in there.)

The Peace Between Divine Pec- ah-hm sorry - uh…Peaks by AceOfDivineChlorophyll - I need to catch up with the latest chapters of this, but I have it bookmarked as "absolutely love it, mega oblivious SQQ thinks he's LBH's advisor and not realizing that he's effectively the empress (something everyone around him sees) and of course not realizing also that he's super in love with LBH."

Particular by thehoyden - a very sweet SQQ/LBH a/b/o!

The King's Avatar

This is also the year when I consumed this canon!

Born of Fire (We Shall Not Fall) by TheDefenestrator - I loved this fic so much. So much. It's my favourite take on omegaverse I've ever seen in any fic, ever. It's got a super lovely Ye Xiu/Han Wenqing slowburn and Ye Xiu joining Tyranny, but it's also set in this universe which brings this omegaverse context into everything and makes it extra delicious. It's so well done. I just hope it updates one day.

here in search of your glory by Synoshian - I also adored this long slowburn long slowburn Ye Xiu/Han Wenqing WIP where Ye Xiu joins Tyranny.

Bond/Q

a bloodless coup by Ark - scorchingly hot, great characterisations, very well done.

There's a lot more fics that I read and enjoyed last year, but these were in my bookmarks as absolute faves, so I figure it's fair enough to end it here!

[mj220991]

Because of Changfengdu, i feel like i need to make a list or introductions of the author's novel (墨书白)

The ML's usually crazily devoted and the FL is crazily competent. I will write some of her historical ones first. (English is not my 1st language, so sorry if there's some mistake)

I'll tag @dangermousie and @mercipourleslivres, maybe you guys can enjoy some of this!

长公主 (The Grand Princess)

This one is a double rebirth story of a princess and her estranged husband. They both died (at age 50's) thinking they killed each other. They born in a time before they married. In their new life they started as friends.

Our FL is Li Rong, is a prideful princess and in the 1 st life married our ML Pei Wen Xuan because he's the most handsome XD. The emotional part of this novel feels so delicate and raw. The longings, remorse, regret, especially from the ML really hook me up. The bloody drama also not only come from the main couple but basically everyone. There's no such a thing as npc chara, everyone have their own purpose. I know many people said Li Rong don't deserve Pei Wen Xuan ( nahh do we read the same novel?) Both are at faults. This one is not for the faint heart. Last time i heard they will adapt this into a drama with Zhao Jinmai and Wang Anyu, i don't want them to touch this.

山河枕 (Mountain river pillow aka the eldest wife is my wife)

This one is a rebirth story. Our FL Chuyu already married the 2nd ML in her 1st life. But her love was wasted and her husband didn't treat her right. After being reborn, she choose to married her supposed to be husband, Wei Jun (the eldest son of a border general). You know what happened to the generals who lives in the border right? Right, scapegoat of the politics in the capital.

Short story, the wei general and his 6 son died (including Chu Yu husband) as a traitor in battlefield leaving the youngest son Wei Yun bring his father and brothers coffin. The real story begin here as Chu yu keep helping Wei Yun to keep the Wei family legacy.

Poor Wei Yun, is all that i can say :p.

From the news i see Song Qian and Ding Yuxi name, please just no :(.

论撩世家子的技巧 (the trick to teasing a noble family son)

This is not the famous one but WORTH READING. Oh and this a crossdressing novel. Our FL Wei Lan is a reborn, but not from your usual world. She came from a matriarcal world, when women is the leader in society and men task is in the backyard. When she came to the her new world, the 1st thing she do is change identity with his brother. Yes you hear me right, Wei lan become the brother and her brother Wei Hua become the sister. Our ML is Xie Zichen, also a reborn. He died being betrayed by the prince that he supported.

This novel is hilarious in the beginning as Wei Lan feels like douchebag,and feels that women is far superior than men. She FLIRT a lot. Because her thoughtfulness, all of these men of course being tempted. Our ML too think like that but reverse. But don't worry there's chara development from everyone, i cried a lot and too be honest my fav chara is one of the FL suitor who end up died.

I change my mind, i'll write her Xianxia and modern too here XD.

琢玉 (Carven Jade)

One of my fav danmei together with Yuwu. Our Gong is Fu ChangLing and Shou is Qin Yan (ma babies). This is a rebirth story. In the 1st life Fu Changling killed Qin Yan out of revenge and hate thinking that he is the one who killed his family and bring demise to the cultuvation world, little did he know that Qin Yan did all of that for him.

After being reborn Fcl did everything to keep Qin Yan safe and sound. I love how devoted they are to each other. All the support characters also great. I really love the parents story too.

剑寻千山 (sword of searching mountain)

This is a broken reunion story. Our FL Qin wanwan and our ML Xie Changji were married. The FL didn't know that our ML cultivated the heart of sword way ( the way of being indifferent, throw away feelings and other desires), she think the ML doesn't love her.

Our ML lives with sadness and trauma for hundred years. Our FL sects also meet a demise around this time and it so so sad. This novels feels emotionally heavy.

Xie ChangJi is up there for me for Crazyily masochist obsessed devoted ML. This one is not my fav but have some really good part. All the support chara also awesome.

余生有涯 (rest of my life)

TW : R&pe, Suicid*

This is a modern setting novel but being the heaviest of the bunch. Definitely not for everyone. This is a realistic novel about our FL Ye Sibei who is getting r*pe after office drinking party. Usually her husband pick her up, but he didn't do it on that day.

This is very hard to read for me, only 39 chapters with knife in it. Felt very real, the one that didn't felt real was her husband Qin Nan (definitely doesn't exist). Do not recomend ro read this when you're feeling down. But very uplifting.

[yea-baiyi]

sorry i haven’t been posting lately i’ve been bingeing on random cnovels that got recommended on twitter. help me i have reread thrice married to salted fish (三嫁咸鱼）four times. i read an mpreg book by accident and i was rooting for the mpreg. i would say i need help but honestly i’m having the time of my life and no one can stop me. i’m taking recommendations

[milkmynk]

Are you in the mood for :-

a. angst b. devotion c. tooth-rotting fluff d. scheming, somewhat ruthless, but ultimately kind MC e. impeccably gentlemanly but equally intelligent and firm ML f. well-developed plotlines (yes, plural, because this is a quick transmigration novel with an overarching plot) g. snappy dialogue and writing that whiplashes from comedic to painful to devastatingly sweet

If you are, please read Don't Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin, I promise it's a fantastic read! Quick explanation :

MC is a first-rate actor who got into an accident. For a chance at revival, he signed a contract with a System that specifically helps hosts (people who died with a vast amount of regret/vengeance) take revenge on their ex-lovers who forced them into a terrible situation.

His job in the system is to take control of each host's body, and re-navigate their lives (rewound to an appropriate timepoint) to take revenge on their ex-lovers.

Each world is well-plotted and varied, and every revenge is specific and targeted to the world's plot. (There's also an overarching plot, but I won't spoil!)

One of my favorite quotes from the novel :

"Love is when you wish you could follow him when he dies, yet fearing that besides myself, nobody else will remember him. So I can only take his wishes as my own, I will live on in his place, and I will live very well. I won't go anywhere that is a world without him."

[tentative-wanderer]

🥋 Danmei Book Recommendation: 不称职的保镖先生 Mr. Unqualified Bodyguard by 钟晓生 Zhong Xiao Sheng

• Tags: Modern, mixed martial arts (MMA), famous singer, bipolar disorder

• What I liked: MMA is cool, depictions of bipolar disorder, the protagonist’s care and gentleness

• Cons: Relatively straightforward plot, nothing flashy. It’s not entirely clear why the protagonist loves who he loves.

***

All my danmei recommendations:

[imageartifacts]

CANONICALLY SWITCHY PROTAGONIST SIGHTED!!!

[blobofcolour]

I have read many many cnovels over the years, but the one that has always stuck with me was 清明记 (Story of Qing Ming) by 清朗 (aka  赵晨光) since I first read it more than 10 years ago. It’s a short one at only 18 chapters, telling the story of the titular character Qing Ming, an assassin from the rebel city of Yu Jing. Of course he becomes ‘bosom friends’ with Pan Bai Hua a politically savvy minister from the capital... and spoiler alert, it does not end well.

This is my favourite part of the novel, describing Qing Ming entering the capital on his final mission to assassinate Pan Bai Hua. He has always been one to accept the life he has been born into but when he catches a glimpse of Pan Bai Hua in the sea of plum blossoms, he knows this man has been properly imprinted in his heart.

一面思量，他脚下步履不停，不久便到了香雪海。  

　　那香雪海在拥雪城外东南方，是绝大的一片白梅林，约有千株左右。此刻恰是众芳摇落之际，惟这千株白梅占尽风情。远远望去，清幽绝俗，非雪海二字，不能道其颜色。   　　这拥雪城之名，正是由这一片香雪海而来。   　　此刻因已夜深，���无人来。清明走到切近，见月光清冷洁白，洒落在梅花之上，冷烟和月，映得那白梅花瓣透明如冰玉一般。更有暗香缭绕，似有若无。他深吸了一口气，心神俱醉。   　　一阵夜风吹过，几瓣梅花飘飘荡荡地落了下来。清明伸手轻轻接住，正如玉盘中盛了冰片，清雅之极。他不禁微笑，随口唱起了落花风，一时间便如前日雨夜听宋别离琵琶一般，浑忘了世间诸事，心中只想：这里是天上，还是人间？   　　初冬薄薄雪，近风淡淡云。   　　倜傥标高骨，玲珑傲气心。   　　月夜香雪海，莫过如此。   　　他这里心神摇曳，自说自笑，偶然一抬头间，忽见拥雪城头，不知何时竟多了一个身影。   　　此时月光皎洁，映得拥雪城头恰如明镜一般。那人身形高挑，素衣银冠，风神隽雅��月下看来，实是浊世一翩翩佳公子。   　　清明忽然一句话也说不出来，一声也笑不出来了。   　　城头那人，正是天子面前有名的重臣，朝里权倾一时的中书令，眼下拥雪城十万大军的统帅，相交五年的唯一知己，自己此次入城前来刺杀的对象！   　　眼见小潘相登临城头，身边并无随从，却也是望向东南方，正是为了赏鉴这一片香雪海。   　　他身在高处，月光又明亮，清明多年训练，目力比常人要好上数倍，看得分外清晰。   　　而潘白华虽也向香雪海方向看去，但梅林繁茂，清明又站在梅影掩映之中，却是看不分明。   　　清明站在树下，脑海里一片空白。   　　他也弄不清过了多久，不知是片刻，还是一个时辰。总之，当他再抬起头时，城头上那个素衣公子，已经不见了人影。   　　清明从树影中走出，忽然低低地笑出声来。   　　原道是胸中自有透顶洒脱，谁曾想意中却是透骨相思。 　　潘白华，见到你之前，我还真当自己已是此心到处悠然了。  

Mild spoilers on the ending incoming.......

The author wrote an extra chapter set in modern times and gave the reincarnated PBH/QM their happy ending. While I appreciated having that extra chapter on my first reading, years later I preferred the original ending. While they cared deeply for each other and recognized that this person was the only one to truly know me, it doesn’t change the fact that they were from opposing camps. Well, PBH tried to force QM to change sides but they were always ones who walked their chosen path till the end. 

I’m not sure if there are English translations out there of this author’s novels, they are really well written wuxia works. Not explicitly BL but many ‘bosom friends’ bonds.......

===

On current reading materials, I finished 嫁纨绔 the novel that upcoming (maybe??) cdrama Chang Feng Du 长风渡 is based on. Really enjoyed the story and the host of characters from mains to villains, so fingers crossed that the drama gets to air and hopefully the script writers don’t mangle the story. I got started on another novel 山河枕 (Mountain and River Pillow) by the same author but got bored around chapter 55. The ML isn’t doing anything for me so far, I’m actually more interested in the ex-husband hahaha. Maybe I should try 四嫁 instead where the ex-husband is the ML! 

Please throw novel recommendations my way, especially wuxia ones. I have a 12 hour flight and week long work retreat coming up zzzzzz

[persefone88]

Chinese Web Novel Recommendations Hour

Shareing some of the web novels I have enjoyed.

She is a moving corpse, with no heartbeat, no breathing, no pulse, and no body temperature. Every day, she is thinking about how to prevent corrosion, moisturize, rejuvenate, whiten, and maintain the vitality of her body.

Doing sauna, soaking in hot springs to activate blood circulation, drinking angelica red date chicken soup to replenish qi, eating vegetables and fruits to replenish water, exercising daily to prevent osteoporosis, using her mind at all times to prevent rigid thinking, she is determined to be a good corpse that is healthy, environmentally friendly and pollution-free.

[sunriseverse]

i am once again asking who the FUCK is making these and, more importantly, why.

[ID: A screencap of a CQL video titled "Wei Wuxian didn't hold back any longer, and the scheming man was speechless with one sentence!" The video shows Jin Jixun speaking to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli, whose backs are turned to the camera, and the English closed captions say "Today is a big day for the Crowd Hunt." /End ID]

[foxcassius]

this is the problem with trying to recommend cnovels is that i think tian guan ci fu is objectively a better written, easier and more fun to read book. But Mo Dao Zu Shi Has Lan WangJi.

i wish lan wangji was real :(

[unforth]

Alright not to like liveblog my breakdown on main but yesterday was a really bad day after a really bad, like, 4 months, and I've hit a bit of a breaking point and one of the only things in my life that can give is running @mdzsartreblogs , @tgcfartreblogs , @svsssartreblogs , @erhaartreblogs , @tykartreblogs , and @cnovelartreblogs , so that is what has to give. It's been a 99-out-of-100 days thankless job. A small number of people do say thank you and yall I appreciate you so much (HUGE shout-out to the artist I met at Flamecon who gifted me a zine when I said I ran these blogs, @bonesblubs you rock) but I have never done an act of fandom labor simultaneously this labor intensive yet this invisible before and, uh. It sucks. I spend an hour or more a day on this every day, if it's under 2k hours since I started the first of these in September 2020 I'd be shocked. And I do it because I love it but doing it means I don't have time or energy to do other things I love. And I really don't want to just quit, but I can't keep this up.

In a last-ditch effort to try not to just give up, I'm making the following changes:

1. Only watching one tag per fandom for the MXTX fandoms. I am going to check *only* #tgcf, #svsss, and #mdzs. Artwork posted to any other tag, I will not see unless a mutual reblogs it.

2. Reduced tagging (even more). I'm only going to tag characters and maybe overarching au type (eg, "modern au," "fantasy au"). I'll no longer tag creatures. I will continue to tag the same common trigger warnings I already tag.

3. If a work's appearance doesn't make it obvious what it is AND the tags aren't clear, I'm not going to reblog. I can't keep spending 5 minutes or more trying to figure out what I'm even looking at, scared that if I guess wrong the artist will get mad at me for mistagging their work. If I do reblog, I'll tag only the artist name and/or whatever else I can identify for sure.

4. I am no longer going to follow #link click. The fandom is just too big. I've started dreading checking it. If I was more into it and less busy I would make another spin off just for it but neither of those is true. (The art is so good, I hate to do this, but. If you love link click, highly recommend the main tag, lots of great stuff there.)

5. I will no longer tag any non-cnovel content in the art/post. Like, if someone draws, idek, Xie Lian and Marinette from Ladybug, I'm not gonna put any tags for Marinette, just for Xie Lian.

6. Basically if I run into something hard to tag or confusing or unclear, my new policy is I'm not gonna fricken bother.

I think those are everything but idefk, I cried for 3 hours last night and got 4 hours of sleep so I'm mostly fueled by exhaustion and desperation right now and my memory is even more fried than usual.

How artists can help. This is obviously all optional. You do you. But since some people might want to know what would make my life easier, I'm sharing. I'm not claiming I feel entitled to dictate how people fandom or anything like that.

1. Put the tags for the character(s) and ship(s) early in the tag list.

2. If you make art for a fandom that isn't one of the big ones (right now the only big danmei fandoms on tumblr as far as I can tell are the MXTX fandoms and maybe 2ha) I am begging you to use my tracked tag #cnovelartreblogs

3. Do mdzs art? Tag #mdzs. Do tgcf art? Tag #tgcf. Do svsss art? Tag #svsss.

4. Not only artists, but everyone, *please* stop tagging fandoms not discussed and/or depicted in your post. It's gotten to be stupid common for people to blanket the danmei fandom tags with posts only about one fandon (like, svsss-only works also being tagged mdzs and tgcf and 2ha for some damn reason). This isn't about just my sideblogs tbh this is just fandom etiquette that seems to have been forgotten or never learned by many. Tagging unrelated fandoms isn't "reach," it's annoying. People go into the #mdzs tag to see mdzs, not whatever not-mdzs stuff people have decided to tag for ~reach~, and seeing the same post in 8 tags, none of which it's related to, is so damn irritating, and makes scrolling the tags looking for content that IS relevant take that much longer. Knock it off.

Okay. I think that's as much as I'm prepared to meltdown where everyone can see. Thanks in advance everyone for your understanding, and apologies to everyone about to see this 8 times as I reblog it to each sideblog.

At least I'm not tagging it to everywhere. 🤣🤣🤣

[mxtxfanatic]

Do you have any recommendations for danmei novels that are at all like SVSSS in tone? Or MDZS?

I have already read TGCF, but while I enjoyed it, the extended downward spiral without as many mental breaks from cutting to happier times proved to me a bit much for me.

I also tried 2ha but bounced off it hard as the POV character is just too unlikable at the start (even knowing why he's like that courtesy of tumblr spoilers couldn't save the unpleasantness of his POV).

I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think I’ve read any book that quite hits the same spot as svsss while having similar quality. The only novel I can think of is that’s similar in feel is Peerless Immortal Surrounded by Demonic Disciples, but the writing quality kinda sucks. Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know feels like it has a similar comedic tone to svsss, but that’s about it with the similarities. For mdzs recs, First-Class Lawyer, Copper Coins by the same author, and Record of the Missing Sect Master comes closest. These have MCs that are most similar in personality to Wei Wuxian without also having that extended downward spiral with minimal breaks that you mentioned.

The thing about mxtx’s writing is that I think her most unique skill amongst the writers of cnovel I’ve read with serious topics is her ability to weave humor into dark moments of the story to give reprieve from the pressure without completely breaking the momentum. A lot of stories either end up dropping the humor as the plot gets serious or adding too much humor, causing the somber moments to seem goofy and unserious. However, if you want stories that are mostly humorous with a few moments of somberness expertly woven in, then I’d suggest Ascending, Do Not Disturb and The Times Spent in Pretense.

[tentative-wanderer]

🧸 Danmei Book Recommendation: 安乐死 Euthanasia by 风溯君 Feng Su Jun

• Title in pinyin: an le si

• Genre/setting: Modern, entertainment industry (film)

• Introduction (translated by me):

Each day, how many people are born is how many people die. Those who don’t have a right to decide on their birth at least have a right to decide on their death. No one could figure out why young, tremendously wealthy John chose euthanasia.

He was well-prepared on the day of his death, but when he woke up again, he had acquired a legal husband.

• Pros: likeable cast of characters, interracial transnational couple, story interspersed with some humour, pursuit of dreams, mutual support, thoughtful verbalisations of affection and encouragement. John Williams’ expressiveness, quirkiness, and unabashed love of childish and feminine things go well with Liu Zhiwei’s stability (even-tempered, mature, resilient).

• Other tags: LGBTQ+ issues, family, rough personal histories. I excluded spoilery tags.

• Cons: many, many flaws (for example, the lack of detail regarding John’s rehabilitation, an incorrect depiction of how one should treat coral reefs while diving, an interview arrangement that doesn’t make sense), too troublesome to list them all

• Excerpt (translated by me):

“You are a part of my dream,” said John. “God played a prank on me, putting my dream on the other side of the globe. But luckily I found you in the end.”

• Despite the intro, Liu Zhiwei, not John, is the main character in my view. The story is told from several characters’ perspectives, but the book centres on Liu Zhiwei more than John.

• At the start of the story, Liu Zhiwei is a broke background actor with little hope left.

• It’s open to interpretation, but I think John is the top, haha.

• John’s name is not spelled as John in the book. I believe the name in the novel is not what the author would have chosen if their first language were English, because the spelling is unusual, yet it is mentioned in the book that there are many people in the US with that name. Hence, I’ve taken the liberty to use the similar-sounding “John” here.

*

All my danmei recommendations:

[freakoutjess]

anyone searching for female-lead relationship novels or dominant/assertive fmcs !!!! please read it and all the authors other work TRULY ONE OF THE GREATS

reading apocalypse arrivel by gong xinwen and i remember how they’re truly one of the greatest authors of all time (to me).

following the fl on her journey wanting her to win whatever challenges she faces and ! just the way they write mls truly irreplaceable to me. they just torture them in the right way ! and i want to scream and hug them bc THATS MY PUPPY

ive read all of their work and just ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ all around