#first sino japanese war

[blueshistorysims]

Late August 1937, Henford-on-Bagley, England

When they returned from India at the end of August, everything went right back to routine; Byron in his library, the children playing, and everything else that happened at Walshstone Park. 

Eleora was pleased to see a letter from Albert, who’d also taken his children to India that July. His wife Odette had been unable to come, too heavily pregnant with their third. She had been counting down the days to hear from her brother’s family with the news of another niece/nephew. 

Her brother and sister-in-law had another son, a little boy named Samuel. His brother Victor, who was now in school, was very pleased with a brother while their older sister Marie-Louise had wanted a sister. 

Along with the news, Albert had sent an invitation for the family to come for Yom Kippur, eager to show his nephew and niece their new townhouse in Paris, as well as to meet little Samuel. 

“Byron?” Eleora asked, entering the library when she finished reading the letter.

He looked up from his book. “Hmm?” 

“Albert sent a letter. They had a boy, named him Samuel.”

“I bet Odette is quite tired of all of her children looking like Albert.”

She chuckled. “He’s also invited us to spend Yom Kippur at their new house in Paris. I know it would mean the children would miss school, but they’ve never been to Paris before, and I want to meet my nephew.”

Byron nodded. “I have no objections.” He stood up. “I must be in London tomorrow.”

“But we just returned!”

“But I am one of the few people in the Foreign Office that reads and speaks Japanese. We’re to discuss what’s happening in ShangHai with the Japanese ambassador.”

“Is it as bad as they say?”

He pursed his lips. “Yes, but I cannot say more. …Ever since the military fanatics took over the Japanese government… I don’t know what will happen in the Far East.”

beginning/previous/next

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Mine Eyes Dazzle update: I would like a time machine so I could warn past me. Or possibly slap past me for giving me all this extra work 🙃

[velvetvexations]

(anyone who may know better - I happily welcome corrections!)

I was reading some more into the Second Sino-Japanese War, as is my wont, and I think the key to understanding Imperial Japan is that they were (A) obsessed with securing the dominance and propagation of Yamato culture via (B) copying everything the West did as closely as possible. They were undoubtedly motivated by a very strong envy of Western empires and entitlement to a seat at the same table. Not that they were more entitled than the ones already sitting at the table, of course! No colonial asperations were morally pure or justified beyond simple nationalistic greed. But it's interesting because in those other cases the table, by which I mean not just the benefits of empire but the balance of power where the Western empires had a stranglehold on the world, kinna gradually formed between them over the course of centuries, and Japan was like, on the outside trying very hard to break in and take that for themselves after the Perry Expedition. And holy hell did they go a long ways towards making themselves a modern world power in an extremely short amount of time, the exact opposite of the Qing Dynasty, which was in such disarray during this entire period that by the time WW2 rolled around it was interrupting China's ongoing civil war that had been going on since a couple of decades earlier when the Qing had fallen.

Like, they suppressed the local languages of their colonial conquests but then, also, look at this:

That's a group of IJ officials pretending to inspect where a fake bomb was set off to false flag a justification for taking Manchuria. Japanese people dressed in "Western"-style clothing is hardly anything surprising now, but in-context, it's strange. Because like, IJ was trying so hard to make all of East Asia distinctly Japanese, right? But it was all filtered through that desire to be as powerful and glorious as they saw the Western world. IJ was, in a sense, stuck in a mindset of "anything you can do I can do better" - towards the West, with East Asia just being the tool with which they proved that with.

Fear of a Qing-style Century of Humiliation probably made it feel existential on some level, a case of doing or dying on top of plain nationalism. To assert their independence, because an empire by definition can not be subordinate to any other power, Korea went through modernization reforms and proclaimed itself an empire in 1897 despite patently not being an empire (the justification being that Korea had historically once been divided into three kingdoms), but it was too little too late and IJ annexed them just a decade or so later, which absurdly must have seemed to justify IJ's worldview that one was either a colonizer or the colonized.

There was a political cartoon about the Boxer Rebellion where the Eight-Nation Alliance is seen carving up a pie labeled "China" as a Chinese man looks on in outrage, and it's so fascinating, because the Chinese and Japanese man (who, side note, appears to be the only genericized ENA rep rather than a caricature of a specific person) are drawn in the same racist way yet Japan was nevertheless by the turn of the century seen by the West as being at least close to same level - the full understanding of how far Japan had come on the world stage would arrive just a few years later when Japan kicked Russia's ass in the Russo-Japanese War.

The Russo-Japanese War is particularly interesting in regards to the disparity between how IJ viewed Asia and the West, because one thing that particularly shocked the latter was how 'gentlemanly' IJ's wartime behavior was, treating prisoners and civilians with boundless (and most importantly for the IJ, vocal) generosity. Yet, just a decade earlier during the First Sino-Japanese War, they committed many atrocities that would foreshadow the many they committed in the second. Unsurprisingly, the West quickly forgot the PR scandal IJ made for itself with the Port Arthur massacre of 1894 and declared that it's conduct in the war with Russia (keep in mind I am paraphrasing a turn-of-the-century opinion in a historical context!) "proved Japan is civilized".

It's interesting to think that the person who sent Perry to open up Japan and had this huge radical affect in causing Japan to become obsessed with modernization and catching up, which led to as much as it did, was...Millard Fillmore. Who Wikipedia notes is ranked by historians as both one of the worst and least-memorable presidents ever. The fact that he's in a very real way responsible for one of the most evil regimes in history is probably underdiscussed.

[meichenxi]

which 'shoulds' can you get rid of?

I want to read non-fiction, but whenever I try, I can't remember shit. this is a Problem. I have since been diagnosed with both autism and adhd, and I realised that: this part of my brain is not going to magically get better.

this is Also a Problem.

to give you an extent of the Problem: during covid, I read the history of japan and a week later had forgotten every single era except the meiji one. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what happened in japan beyond that bill wurtz video. It’s got islands. It’s volcanoes. It had a shogunate. Uhhhh

it only occurred to me about two weeks ago to try audible. and it has completely changed my life.

I should be able to read non-fiction. I should read physically, because I read so quickly and it's such a waste of time to listen to audiobooks. I should read more. I should read. I should -

okay. but I'm now listening to 2+ hours of lectures on the history of china every day. I'm learning about mengzi, xunzi, weizi, han feizi, numerous philosophers I'd heard of and never interrogated more, because I couldn't read the damn books. I'm feeling curious about other things that I haven't felt curious about in ages - how did confucianism spread to other asian countries? how did buddhism change after it entered china? and even parts of later history I have never really been grabbed by: what actually happened in the sino-japanese war?

for the first time in years, I feel hope: that maybe, just maybe, this is the way to learn that works for me. (I'm also actually doing chores about the house, because I get bored of sitting still.)

what could you do, if you got rid of your 'should's?

[stirringwinds]

sorry if it's a dumb question but i've wondered about the nations' skills or what suits their personalities, and who do u think would win in a swordfight between yao and kiku? japan does have such a kenjutsu culture but what about china, since china has a very old history too?

i have thought about this before, actually 🤔 when thinking about pre-modern sino-japanese power dynamics between yao and kiku. personally, i say it actually depends on which point in history. this is my headcanon:

before the kamakura period/shogunate (which overlaps with the sengoku/feudal era of japan) tbh I'd say yao wins. one reason is well, the symbolic power balance between china and japan. the first time china and japan properly met face-to-face in conflict was in the 7th century CE, during the baekje-tang war at the battle of baekgang in korea. long story short: it was a power struggle between korean kingdoms, and the korean kingdom of baekje (yong-soo's brother) was allied to japan, so japan came to help them. their enemy was the other korean kingdom of silla (aka: yong-soo long before he becomes south korea), who...was allied to china. despite being outnumbered 3 to 1, china pretty much crushed japan in that battle. then, kiku is very much an inexperienced upstart challenging the regional hegemon who has far far more notches on his sword. getting wrecked like that by yao is imo, quite a formative experience for kiku (to put it mildly).

but as the centuries go by, yeah no, kiku is the swordsman alright. because of samurai culture, and its elevation to power during the muromachi and edo period. further, there's of course the imjin war, where the samurai lord toyotomi hideyoshi invaded korea with the goal of overthrowing ming china too. even during the successive edo period/tokugawa shogunate, where japan was unified, far more peaceful under isolationism and many samurai became more like bureaucrats, i think kiku continued practising kenjutsu or at least in the form of kendo—swordsmanship and his swords became very much an extension of his personality and identity by then, as well as a way he'd blow off steam even during peacetime. his katana and wakizashi would always be properly maintained and you'd see him carefully oiling it with the mix of mineral and clove oil to prevent rusting, even during the most chill years of edo japan. they'd be nicely displayed like this somewhere in his quarters.

this is compared to how, for all that pre-modern china was an empire and all empires need military violence to expand themselves, warriors as a class in chinese culture never quite ascended to the same type of political prestige as the samurai. it was a very different cultural/political context. it's like, you can't underestimate yao still, as an experienced old empire (tm), but by the 1400s/ming dynasty, i think he might've shifted more to being that kind of general presiding over maps in his military tent, and directing strategy, compared to the younger warlord he was in his earlier years, who was down in the dirt all the time fighting in every single skirmish. so, while yao can and will get his hands dirty if need be with a blade, i think kiku edges him out by then in sheer focus, skill and devotion re: kenjutsu becoming a pretty core aspect of his personality/experiences. to me, it’s also an “old and experienced soldier surpassed by his younger, hungry protégé” dynamic too.

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1938 Fiat BR20 Cicogna Japan vs Polikarpov I-152 China - Stan Hajek

In July 1937, when Japan entered into full-scale war with China (the Second Sino-Japanese War), the Japanese Army Air Force found itself short of modern long-range bombers, pending the delivery of the Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally", which was undergoing prototype trials at the time, and thus required the interim purchase of aircraft from abroad. Italy was willing to give priority to any Japanese orders over its own requirements, and offered both the Caproni Ca.135 and the BR.20 bombers in order to meet their needs. Following an evaluation of both aircraft by the Japanese, it was determined that while the Caproni could not meet the Japanese requirements, the BR.20 closely matched the specification. In addition, the BR.20 had acquired a positive reputation as a relatively fast and durable aircraft in combat during the Spanish Civil War. Accordingly, during late 1937, an initial order was placed by Japan for 72 BR.20s; this was soon followed by another order for a further 10 bombers.During early 1938, the first BR.20 were shipped to Dalian, Liaoning, in Japanese-controlled Northeast China, after which they were transported on for assembly and flight testing purposes. In Japanese service, the BR.20 (designated the I-Type (Yi-shiki)) was used to supplement and eventually replace the obsolete Mitsubishi Ki-1, equipping a pair of bomber groups (the 12th and 98th Sentai) located in Manchuria. The I-Type was heavily deployed on long-range bombing missions against Chinese cities and supply centers during the winter of 1938–39. The BR.20s were operating with no fighter cover at the extremes of their range and consequently incurred heavy losses from Chinese fighters, as did the early Ki-21s that shared the long-range bombing tasks.

[noticiasarquelogicasjaponesas]

Sean bienvenidos japonítasarqueológicos a una nueva entrega en esta ocasión nos desviamos un poco del contenido que suelo hacer, dicho ésto comencemos. - ¿Cómo afectará esto a la arqueológia e historia? ¿Y a la economía? Antes que nada ¿Por qué la situación está así? Esto viene desde el siglo XIX, cuando China sede Taiwán tras perder la Guerra sino-japonesa estará bajo dominio 1895-1945, desde el momento en ese momento se creó la República independiente de China. - Razones por las que China quiere Taiwan: 1°Incorporarla de nuevo a su territorio. 2° Taiwán es la gran exportadora de microchip a nivel mundial. 3° Esto amenazaría el territorio de Japón, ya que las islas de Okinawa está Cerca. Además, china dirá que le están amenazando sus fronteras. - ¿Cómo creéis que afectará a la economía mundial? - Os deseo un cordial saludo y nos vemos en próximas publicaciones de Arqueología e historia japonesa. - 考古学的ジャポナイトは、新しい記事へようこそ。 - これは考古学と歴史にどのように影響しますか? そして経済へ？ まず、なぜこのような状況になったのでしょうか。 これは、19 世紀に中国が日中戦争に敗れた後、台湾を占領したときのことであり、独立した中華民国が誕生した瞬間から、1895 年から 1945 年まで台湾は支配下に置かれることになります。 - 中国が台湾を欲しがる理由： 1°テリトリーに戻す。 第 2 位 台湾はマイクロチップの世界最大の輸出国です。 3° 沖縄の島々が近くにあるので、これは日本の領土を脅かすだろう. さらに、中国は国境が脅かされていると言うでしょう。 - 世界経済にどのような影響を与えると思いますか。 - 今後の考古学と日本史の出版物でお会いしましょう。 - Archaeological Japonites are welcome to a new installment, this time we deviate a bit from the content that I usually do, with that said, let's begin. - How will this affect archeology and history? And to the economy? First of all, why is the situation like this? This comes from the 19th century, when China seized Taiwan after losing the Sino-Japanese War, it will be under rule from 1895-1945, from the moment at which the independent Republic of China was created. - Reasons why China wants Taiwan: 1° Incorporate her back into her territory. 2nd Taiwan is the world's largest exporter of microchips. 3° This would threaten the territory of Japan, since the islands of Okinawa are nearby. In addition, China will say that its borders are being threatened. - How do you think it will affect the world economy? - I wish you a cordial greeting and see you in future publications of Archeology and Japanese history.

[barbucomedie]

Leather Shield from Yunnan, China dated to the 19th Century on display at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England

This shield was purchased by a French missionary in the early 20th century. It is intended to be suspended from the neck and hang high on the left arm. Shields in the Qing dynasty began to be phased out of the armies as China worked towards modernising it's military alongside European standards. Even still many soldiers were equipped with shields during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894 - 1895) for protection as well as identifying regiments and units.

Photographs taken by myself 2024

[adventuressclubamericas]

Adventuresses We Love – Annie Londonderry In 1894, two Boston businessmen reportedly made a $10,000 bet that no woman could bicycle around the world in 15 months or less. Annie Cohen Kochopsky took them up on that bet. To help finance the trip, Kochopsky sought out sponsors and sold ad space on her bike. Her first sponsor was Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company. They agreed to pay $100 in exchange for her carrying an advertising placard for them, and if she would agree to go by the name Annie Londonderry for the duration of the adventure. Annie readily agreed. On June 27, 1894, despite having only learned how to ride a bike a couple of days earlier, Londonderry set out from her home in Boston’s Beacon Hill and headed west. She carried with her a change of clothes and her pearl handled revolver. She arrived in Chicago that September, and realized she had a problem. Winter was coming fast, and there was no way she’d be able to cross the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains when the snows came. So, she reversed course and rode back to Boston. Where she started over, this time heading east. She rode to New York, jumped a steamer to France, then biked to Marseilles. From there her travels took her through the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Russia, North Korea, China, and Japan. She left Yokohama and sailed to San Francisco, then spent the next six months bicycling across the Southwest and Midwest. Londonderry reported that she was held captive while biking across China at the height of the Sino-Japanese War. Still, it seems the greatest dangers she faced were from animals - she and another cyclist were nearly killed by a runaway horse and rider in California; while a collision with a herd of pigs in Iowa left her with a broken wrist. Londonderry arrived back in Chicago on September 12, 1895, and claimed her prize. She’d made the trip with 2 weeks to spare, becoming in the process the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by bicycle. Anne Cohen Kochopsky, aka Annie Londonderry died from a stroke on November 11, 1947. She was 77 years old.

[fouryearsofshades]

Some online Chinese fics that I like 2023

I had made a similar post in 2022. For 2023, there didn't seem much that I am following until the end of the year.

BG/no-pairings

《我的爷爷二十二》作者：一枚铜钱 Completed 《满朝文武都能听到我的心声》 作者：白色的木 WIP 《深海余烬》作者：远瞳 WIP 《带着网咖回1950》作者：一斤小鳄梨 WIP BL

《兼职爱豆指北》作者:观自在 Completed 《邪神竟是我自己》 作者：宁世久 WIP 《都市怪谈幕后之主》 作者：无衣yoyo WIP

《我的爷爷二十二》作者：一枚铜钱 Completed

2018年，他们已经是古稀之年 一夜之间 他们回到了22岁，腰不酸了，腿也不疼了 正当他们以为重回青春年华，可以改变各种轨迹走上人生巅峰的时候却发现 ——这里依然是2018年 于是他们变成了——没身份证、没银行卡、没户口的穷光蛋+黑户 嗯？？？这可怎么玩？？？

It was a fic from 2018 but I only read it now. I like the little moments of life that are very touching.

《满朝文武都能听到我的心声》 作者：白色的木 WIP

　　＊古代奇幻轻小说 　　 　　坏消息：许烟杪穿越回古代了，而他本人四肢不勤五谷不分，专业还是对古人没用的网络空间安全。 　　 　　好消息：他绑定了一个系统。 　　 　　坏消息：系统名叫八卦系统，不是算命那种八卦，是包含别人私人信息和猛料的那种八卦。屁用没有。 　　 　　坏消息二：这个系统还坏了，产生的BUG未知。 　　 　　坏消息三：这具身体是个能混到参加朝会的小官，而他这个穿越者……不通四书五经，不会毛笔字，目测有被检举揭发科举舞弊的风险。 　　 　　许烟杪：“……” 　　 　　算了，躺平吧，等死吧，赶紧死了说不定还能穿越回去。 　　 　　…… 　　 　　朝堂之上，皇帝因政事雷霆大怒，臣子们瑟瑟发抖。 　　 　　许烟杪假装认真听，实则专注翻八卦系统。 　　 　　【哇哦，皇上昨天刚纳了十六岁的贵人诶！一树梨花压海棠！老当益壮！而且被翻红浪一整晚没睡，现在声音还能这么激昂有力！厉害了！】 　　 　　【这贵人居然��曾经是皇太孙的外室，哇哇哇！太孙还懂掐腰红眼文学！】 　　 　　【哇哇哇哇！皇太孙闯进爷爷后宫……嘶——趁着老皇帝上朝的时候搞上了！搞快点搞快点！怎么没视频……】 　　 　　【诶？怎么没声音了？】 　　 　　许烟杪小心翼翼抬头，偷瞄四周。 　　 　　【发生了什么？怎么跪了一地？皇帝呢？】 　　 　　——皇帝去后宫捉奸了。 　　 　　＊ 　　 　　“科举舞弊”这个炸弹终于爆发了。 　　 　　许烟杪没办法解释自己为什么笔迹和答卷上的笔迹不一样，也没办法回答自己为什么不通四书五经。 　　 　　痛失外室的皇太孙准备的证据直中要害，其贴身侍卫虎视眈眈，扑上来就要把许烟杪拖走打入大牢，秋后问斩。 　　 　　许烟杪捏着证明清白的八卦，却十分头疼： 　　 　　要怎么解释我的信息来源啊…… 　　 　　【说我在科举前三天晚上私见主考官礼部侍郎？怎么可能，那天晚上礼部侍郎男扮女装，夜宿将军府，和大将军……】 　　 　　大将军虎躯一震，当场打断：“陛下！！！！” 　　 　　“虽说科举舞弊证据确凿，但臣认为此事仍有蹊跷，应当重审！尤其是许……许……许烟杪他衣冠整洁！如此重视衣冠的人，怎么会弄脏自己名声呢！” 　　 　　没办法听到心声的皇太孙：？ 　　 　　【还有啊，说什么考官假装打哈欠和困倦是在特意给我留出抄袭的空档，他科举前夜还在母猪圈里呆一晚上不睡觉，第二天能不困吗？不过，堂堂翰林侍讲居然还会相信猪的奶……】 　　 　　翰林侍讲脸色一白，扑将出来：“陛下！！！” 　　 　　“臣……臣赞同大将军的话！许郎怎么会科举舞弊呢！他……他……他在考试前特意喝了一杯纯净的水，相信只有善良的人才能使用清净之物，如此善良的人，又怎么会去科举舞弊呢！” 　　 　　以为稳操胜券的皇太孙：？？ 　　 　　许烟杪感动坏了。 　　 　　【都是好人啊，哪怕脑子不好使，也努力帮我找理由找借口。】 　　 　　【但是我真的没办法翻盘了，唉，可惜我追的连续剧没追完，老皇帝昨晚惹皇后生气，灰溜溜地被赶出寝宫，我还没看到结局就要死了，他今天回去好像打算要往脸上涂墨水假扮猫咪哄皇后开心……】 　　 　　“砰——” 　　 　　老皇帝一拍桌子，强行打断那源源不断的心声：“朕相信许烟杪没有科举舞弊！无罪释放！” 　　 　　满朝文武迫不及待附议，生怕慢一步许烟杪就能抖出其他八卦。 　　 　　“对对对！无罪释放！” 　　 　　“陛下圣明！” 　　 　　“陛下快下朝吧！快让许郎回家歇歇！都把他站得累坏了！” 　　 　　皇太孙：？？？ 　　 　　许烟杪给你们灌迷魂汤了吧？

A crack fic that started this new trope of "everyone can hear what I am thinking". It was very successful that the author was cyber-bullied and now it was updated irregularly. 《深海余烬》作者：远瞳 WIP

　　在那一天，浓雾封锁了一切。 　　在那一天，他成为了一艘幽灵船的船长。 　　在那一天，他跨过浓雾，直面了一个被彻底颠覆而又支离��碎的世界——昔日的秩序已经荡然无存，奇诡的异象主宰着文明社会之外的无尽海域，孤岛城邦与挑战大海的船队已然成为文明世界仅存的灯火，而旧日的阴影却仍在幽邃深海中蠢蠢欲动，等待继续吞噬这个将亡未亡的世界。 　　但对于失乡号的新船长而言，只有一个问题是他首先要考虑的—— 　　谁知道船咋开啊？！

This is a post-apocalyptic fic but I think it had been written for so long that the author seemed to forget some original setting like the "rule-based horror" trope. I am reading it on and off.

《带着网咖回1950》作者：一斤小鳄梨 WIP

【注意：本小说内容纯属虚构】 李锐带着他新装修且能链接2022年网络的网咖回到1950年。 一百二十台超越当时最先进电脑的现代电脑会给一穷二白的华夏带来什么呢？ ps：纯爽文，不要考据，考据就以本书设定为主。谢谢。

This is a fic of the genre "援共文" (aiding the CPC). which generally involves someone went back in time to the founding of new China and helped developing the country on the side of the CPC party. It is a sensitive topic so they are usually found in smaller sites. Bigger sites like jjwxc actually banned fic sets from the period around maybe the First World War but definitely the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (Sino-Japan War) to about the sixties, and also the War to resist US aggression and aid Korea (Korea War). 《兼职爱豆指北》作者:观自在 Completed

乐忱——爱豆里最会杀猪的，兽医里最会唱跳的。 作为一个养成系男团的小糊豆，小姜同学感觉自己不是在逐梦演艺圈，而是来军训拉练的。 周一到周五，他挣扎在大学早八的课堂上，为了出勤率和绩点拼死拼活；下课后，立刻奔去公司报道，学舞蹈、学声乐、学表演；周六日呆在宿舍，等待着虚无缥缈的舞台机会。 他自我定位是个兼职爱豆，别人可以为了舞台放弃生命，而他只想混两千元保底工资。 朋友劝他，反正解约费不高，实在不行就退团当素人吧！ 姜乐忱：“不！我觉得我还可以再挣扎一下，庙里的大师说了，我是命里带红的！” 没想到一语成谶，姜乐忱……居然真的红了！ 只是红了之后，怎么霸道总裁、顶流前辈、高冷舍友、同团弟弟、知名导演（演员表按照汉语拼音首字母排序）……都想要深夜约他看荧光剧本呢？ —————————— “如果你喜欢在盛夏时节的傍晚，穿着人字拖、坐在巷子口，看下班的人流在暮色里匆匆而过； 如果你喜欢去公园里给下棋的大爷出谋划策，又认真地和每一只路过的小狗打招呼； 如果你喜欢在路边小店的冰箱里掏出来一瓶橙汁饮料，一口气喝完，再打一个橙子味的嗝儿…… ……那你一定会喜欢姜乐忱。” —————————— 本文最终cp桂桂子。

A funny light-hearted modern university + entertainment industry fic.

《邪神竟是我自己》 作者：宁世久 WIP

这是你穿越异世界的第三年。 在一开始语言文字不通的情况下，经过万般努力的你通过了审判庭考试，成为了一名有保险有退休金的公职人员。 这个世界的人类龟缩在地下城中，威胁他们的不只有逼仄、缺氧与饥荒，还有黑暗中的邪神教徒与魔物。 而审判庭是与邪神教徒对抗的第一线。 加入审判庭十分危险，辛苦中只有守护人类的荣耀能够慰藉，但你不是为荣耀而来，你需要的是高薪。 还好，虽然你目的不纯，但你干得不错，大家都称你为审判庭的明日之星，就连你的顶头上司也很欣赏你。 你同样敬佩你上司���能力和为人，你觉得你和他在工作之外也是很好的朋友。 今天他又请贫穷的你一起吃饭，你却第一次食不下咽。 因为奔走在升职加薪大道上的你，刚发现了一个令人绝望的事实。 ——什么！邪神竟是我自己？！！ —————— 请吃请喝好上司（对抗邪神最前线）×蹭吃蹭喝穷下属（新生邪神本神） 在我的诸多锚点中，你也是最闪耀的那一颗 公告：本文将于8月21日入V，届时三更，请多多支持~

This is also a post-apocalyptic fic and it is about a journey of a person becoming a god... or an elder god/evil god. The world-building is very solid and the discussion is very active. There are even PWP fanfic on AO3 inspired by an author's note.

《都市怪谈幕后之主》 作者：无衣yoyo WIP

凌不渡，惨从殡葬业连锁继承人穿成贫民窟帅哥。 系统：【为补偿宿主损失，特奖励金手指一个！只要收割惊吓值，就能商城购物，从此荣升富一代，迎娶白富美，走上人生巅峰！】 凌不渡大喜，按照教程去街上随便抓了个杀妻凌子的赌狗。 然后回家取出系统专用沙盘。 只见一平方米的沙盘小黑屋中，十厘米高的赌狗正在麻将馆大杀四方，同样十厘米高的赌友们一边给钱，一边骂骂咧咧重新开局。 凌不渡用塑料袋装水，放冰柜速冻，搞出迷你鬼手，狠狠抓在赌狗脚脖子上！ 赌狗：嗷(！！！ ○ Д ○)！！！ 自此以后，无数法外狂徒们有难了，被天外黑手按住狂薅羊毛。 凶残家暴犯：打老婆的时候有人敲门，以为老婆又报警，结果居然是纸人？？ 连环鲨人犯：抛尸的时候尸体居然爬起来了，嗷嗷追我，老子鞋都跑丢一只啊啊啊！ 作恶无数的人贩子：晚上醒来，几个泥捏的小鬼把我吊起来当球踢，当场吓出了尿分叉。 杀妻骗保专业户：我几个死去的前妻……又回来了。 地窖囚禁案变态：谁tm给我把地窖门锁上了？来人啊我出不去了救命呜呜呜！ 他们看不��沙盘上空的无边巨手，但生活已变得多姿多彩起来。 凌不渡：我容易吗？还得亲手做纸扎、捏泥人、化诡妆、做道具……开马甲装老天师骗钱埋人……多累啊！ 而且最苦恼的是，隔壁可怜小孩被他养的，怎么越来越凶残了呢？ — 【幕后黑手流爽文】【唯我独法】【不掉马】【对cp也不掉马】 【年下养成】 又帅又浪年上受VS又野又疯年下攻

A fic with an old-fashion "evil will be rewarded with evil" idea and the MC had killed so many people with the aid of the "system" (as in the computer/game system). The only thing with this author is that they tended to put the fic on long hiatus and then came back months later as a changed person and shifty completed the work. It is so good so far.

[flufflepuff-reads]

Tԋҽ Pσρρყ Wαɾ (Spoiler Free Review)

Aυƚԋσɾ: R. F. Kuang Rҽʅҽαʂҽ: 1st May 2018 Gҽɳɾҽ: Grimdark Fantasy Rαƚιɳɠ: 5 stars

"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠"

Pɾҽɱιʂҽ:

War orphan, Fang Runin, tries to avoid being sold to an old man by applying to Nikara's most elite military academy. When she gets in, it is not the end of her struggles, at school she is faced with racism and abuse, all while a new war looms on the horizon.

"𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼'𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀."

Rҽʋιҽɯ:

The poppy war is probably one of the best built up fantasy novels of all time. It is a beautiful display of great world building, wonderful and real, complex characters and beautiful writing. This story has meaning, it has purpose and it does what other authors have shyed away from. However this story is NOT for the faint of heart. It is, although sometimes funny, first and foremost a war story. It is ugly, disgusting, brutal and it's real. It is real, because this war happened.

The poppy war is an alternative retelling of the 2nd Sino-Japanese war, set in a fantasy world that is HEAVILY based on china and it displays The Rape of Nanjing, one of the ugliest and darkest massacres in human history, in great detail. The gods and magic might not be real, but this war was. I have never ever heard or read something as vile in any other sort of media, this isn't a typical hero story. Kuang does not shy away from the undescribable horror that this massacre was and she does not lessen war in any way in this book. Trust me, this is not what you are used to.

Eventhough I felt the book was perfect, I struggled with the moral question of wether or not using a real massacre like this in a fantasy novel was ethical for a very long while. Who knows. I am not the authority to decide this matter, but here are some of my thoughts:

Kuang is by far not the first author to base a fantasy novel on real events and real wars, perhaps the most famous example would be J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings, however there is a fundemental difference in the way they do. Tolkien makes it a typical hero story, he poses no question wether or not war is right or wrong, he doesn't make it possible for you to question who the good guy is, because the Orcs are made specifically to kill and destroy, they live no other life, they serve no greater purpose. He may not be romanticising war, but he definetly lessens your understanding and expections of and around it. Kuang does the opposite, she shows you a real war. Nobody in her story is right and without fault, nobody gains anything from this war, all it brings is pain, death and suffering in abundance. To me, reading this book felt like a wake up call, suddenly I had to realise that war was nothing like I imagined, because no matter how hard I'd have tried, I could never have imagined these horros. These horrors which were the ends of real peoples lives, not too long ago. I think this understanding of things and our own world is important. In a very rough way this book educated me on a matter I had unknowingly closed my eyes on, and to me that is worth something. I think this book has a far greater purpose than just entertainment and if you think you can stomach it, I think you should read it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Journal pages:

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Drawing by 豐子愷 Feng Zikai (T·K) 人散後，一鈎新月天如水。

既然無處可逃 不如喜悅 既然沒有淨土 不如靜心 既然沒有如願 不如釋然

Since there is nowhere to escape Not as good as joy Since there is no pure land It's better to make mind calm Since it hasn't done as expected Better to feel relieved

 

─ 豐子愷 Feng Zikai  (Chinese, 1898-1975) pen name : T·K 他是中國散文家、畫家、文學家、美術家與音樂教育家。師從弘一法師李叔同，以中西融合畫法創作漫畫及散文而著名，是中國漫畫藝術的先驅。他的漫畫造形簡約，畫風樸實，饒富童趣，在眾多畫家中，獨樹一格。

He was an influential Chinese painter, pioneering manhua (漫畫) artist, essayist, and lay Buddhist of 20th-century China. also a prolific artist, writer and intellectual who made strides in the fields of music, art, literature, philosophy and translation. Born just after the First Sino-Japanese War and dying just before the end of the Cultural Revolution, he lived through much of the political and socioeconomic turmoil during the birth of modern China. Much of his literary and artistic work comments on and records the relationship between the changing political landscape and ordinary people's daily lives. Although most famous for his paintings depicting children and the multi-volume collection of Buddhist-inspired art Paintings for the Preservation of Life (護生畫集).

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

🦠 The Bubonic Plague Through the Centuries

Ah, the bubonic plague—because nothing says 'fun history' like pandemics. The bubonic plague is known for wiping out millions, causing global panic, and inspiring centuries of fear. It's been a recurring player in Gallifreyan research and Time Lord interventions throughout history.

🐀 13th Century: Pied Pipers and Creepy Clowns

Before the plague reached full celebrity status, it was already a playground for certain entities. The Pied Piper of Hamelin dined on humanity's plague-induced terror in 1283 and 1284, and I don't need to tell you the rest of that story.

⚔️ 14th Century: The Black Death

The plague really started getting its career off the runway in the 1340s. According to the First Doctor, Mongols at Kaffa catapulted plague-ridden corpses over city walls—a precursor to biological warfare. From there, Genoese merchants spread it across Europe.

The immortal Ashildr survived the Black Death in 1348, but her children weren't so lucky.

Aliens stranded in 1346 tried to use the Elixir of Life to save themselves, but the Fourth Doctor thwarted their plans.

🩸 15th Century: Death Takes a Stroll

In 1479, Cardiff faced a bubonic plague outbreak. Duroc, an entity also known as Death, thrived on the chaos until Faith stopped it, preventing Death from permanently crossing into the universe.

🦇 16th Century: Vampires and Tragedy

The Saturnyns came to Venice in 1580, using the plague as a convenient cover to isolate the city while they schemed to repopulate their species. Meanwhile, over in England, William Shakespeare lost his son Hamnet to the plague. This grief left him vulnerable to manipulation by the Carrionites, who exploited his emotional state for their own dark purposes.

🔥 17th Century: The Great Plague

The plague returned for its encore in 1665, killing 100,000 people. The Fifth Doctor discovered the Terileptils had bioengineered a more virulent strain to spread via rats. Thankfully, the Great Fire of London (accidentally caused by the Doctor) helped destroy the source and curbed the outbreak. Meanwhile, the Great Fire killed at least 6 people directly and made around 100,000 people homeless, so um, thanks, Doctor, I guess?

🧪 19th Century: Legends Persist

By the 1800s, memories of the plague remained strong. Any unexplained deaths in isolated areas were attributed to it—or, more bizarrely, to the mythical "Plague Warriors".

🌐 20th Century: Science Gets Involved

During World War II, the Japanese military weaponised bubonic plague in biological experiments. They used it to devastating effect during the Sino-Japanese War, evolving it into pneumonic plague—a far deadlier airborne variant. The Americans later used the research during the Korean War, perpetuating its legacy as a weapon.

🕰️ 21st Century: Modern Chaos

Even in the modern era, the plague's found its way back. Victims from ye olde days emerged through the Cardiff Rift, baffling doctors who no longer recognised the disease. Their confusion sparked an outbreak that Jack inevitably had to sort out.

(TARDIS Wiki)

Whoniverse Facts for Friday by GIL

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features: ⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[tochugesya]

my theories on kunikida’s childhood/backstory *·˚ ༘♡

kunikida is my favorite character (world shock) so i wanted to share my thoughts of it are taken from aspects i have annotated about him/he has said. these are theories!!! nothing confirmed. pd: i have taken some info from doppo kunikida’s irl life, asagiri has taken a lot of details of his life so i doubt he won’t now. please enjoy! :) i also apologize for any misspellings, english is not my first language.

1) kunikida & his family:

kunikida is one of the few characters that have confirmed families (as said in the mini novel kunikida & katai’s magnificent days), so the possibility of being an orphan is eliminated. it’s not mentioned if he has parents or not but he has a family. here are my options/theories abt his family

his dad/his mom (or both) work for the military/government. usually the “stick” personality is associated with having a military family, kunikida’s character trope (istj, moralist) fits in the “military family” stereotype and considering bsd has a lot of topics around the military (like the current arc), it’s a high possibility. this also explains kunikida’s hate of authorities (we will get into this later), and even if they’re not from the military they’re probably people with high prestige/on the traditional side (ex: the zenin’s in jjk).

on the opposite side, kunikida’s family are anti govt (anarchism). again this is mostly related to his authority hate. this also can be linked to the azure king (if you want me to elaborate please let me know!)

these are my main ideas. important to note that irl’s stepdad worked for the ministry of justice and was an ex samurai (which could connect him to one of the fukus). other small things i have noted:

kunikida cares a lot about reputation. maybe this need for the ada’s reputation to stay intact is a reflection of his family.

kunikida used to pass a lot of time with katai (more than with his own family) so they are probably busy people/weren't really present in his life

kunikida has a “motherly” behavior yet he has a strong personality that is usually linked with a strong patriarchal figure. i personally link this to the fact that kunikida’s household could have been more matriarchal. with this, kunikida could have conflicts with his mother possibly related to his idealism.

kunikida is the youngest child. don’t debate me on this.

kunikida’s family dedicates to save people’s lifes/bring justice to them. so he followed their footsteps in his own way.

2. kunikida’s young years

2.1) his possible relation to the great war:

(spoilers for bungo stray dogs manga chapters 65 and 66)

when you think about kunikida's potential childhood, most people assume he had the most "normal" childhood out of all of the ada members. however, kunikida could have (sadly) been involved similarly to how yosano was or in other ways. this section will be divided in two sections: kunikida doppo's irl relation to the sino japanese war (with a connection to irl mori) and kunikida and the usefulness of his ability in the war context.

kunikida doppo and the sino japanese war: for a little bit of context, the first sino japanese war (1894-1895) was a conflict between the japanese empire and china because both countries were looking for being the dominant influence in korea. in this time, multiple authors that were bsdfied participated as war correspondants with the exception of (surprise surprise) ogai mori, who enlisted in the japanese army as an army doctor.

kunikida doppo worked as a war correspondant along with his friend katai tayama in the sino-japanese war. there is no information about where kunikida worked in, but katai worked in taiwan in the same division as mori; this war correspondency was vital for kunikida's career, he got extremely popular due to his war journalism). both kunikida's (doppo and his brother shuuji) were disciples of soho tokutomi, a japanese historian and journalist; it was under him where he became a war correspondant, learnt german (similar to mori) and worked in the newspaper "Kokumin no Tomo" founded by soho, and where mori published "the dancing girl".

kunikida had a involvement in the russo-japanese war, but it's insignificant compared to his work in the sino japanese war. i put this in the post because, as mentioned, asagiri puts details from the irl's life in the story; this is not the reason why i believe he was in the great war, but it makes a little bit more possible.

as i keep rereading this arc, i noticed something yosano said that caught my attention:

doesn't this sound a little similar to mr. idealist "no one will die in front of me"? because it does to me. even if they don't mean the exact same thing, the general idea is the following: keeping people alive.

yosano truly values human life

kunikida's ability and his usefulness in the war:

here's why i believe kunikida may have been involved in the great war; his ability. kunikida's ability "doppo poet" consists of being able to create anything that comes from the notebook. kunikida's ability, even if doesn't look like a threat at first glance, it's a tricky one; if he wanted, he could use a bigger notebook he could summon bigger weapons (such a b0mbs, bigger guns) but he stays with a smaller notebook (which yes it's practical, but why would he use grenades when he could summon better weapons?)

kunikida, with a never ending pile of paper, could summon multiple useful weapons almost at the same time; for the great war, having someone that could create weapons in an instant is convenient. it's also important to remember that ability users' were searched at that time (+ mori's plan, that is explained in chapter 65 or 66).

but besides his ability, and with the past section focused on yosano's trauma and response due to going to the great war, it's not difficult to assume he could have been in a similar situation. kunikida's constant creation of weapons that killed people, that he didn't not want to do because he was a child, in front of him, with no way to stop it because he was forced to create those weapons and because he was a child... he couldn't save them all, kunikida's own experience as a child soldier/weapon during the great war, in this context, is why he's so attached to them, because he sees his little self in them, and in general, it may be possibly the main reason of ideals' being born, so “no one will die in front of me” is kunikida’s reaction to the cruelness of war, just like yosano’s (panel attached below) plus, kunikida's reaction to death is very emotional and raw, which is something that is not seen a lot in bsd (and it's one of his most important characteristics), and has been a theme around for a looong time now.

i wish i'm wrong in this one (please)

2.2) kunikida the rebel

as the name says (lol) kunikida could have been a rebel in high school as well. kunikida does not care about breaking laws (except the ones where he acts like a normal citizen). this could be the aftermath of years of trauma; it's not linked to why he is the way he is but is... more of a way to show he's not that much of a "stick"

ps: between all this mess, he met katai. i don't have a theory abt their meeting but i know those two find each other in the moment they needed it the most. :) following the war timeline, i think katai's family were also involved and they met when it finished and... trauma bonded (to put in blantly).

3. kunikida and the past (why does he not want to talk abt it?)

i want to dive into the most interesting part of kunikida's conversation abt his backstory. he does not want to talk about it.

there are multiple reasons this could be such as shame and trauma; i don't have an elaborate reason why (there could be MULTIPLE) but here are the ones i feel that are the most likely:

as i said before, kunikida could have been from a family of politicians and military members. as he's an idealist, and the topic of politicians and corruption could fit perfectly, he would want to disassociate himself from them.

> this doesn't have to be only abt having govt affiliated family btw. but just the idea that he doesn't want to associate himself with his family because they don't have the same ideals.

he got disowned. not much to mention here

trauma. again not a lot to say here.

rocky relationship with his family. or maybe they are just shitty people and doesn't want to be with them anymore.

othe stuff i have thought about is that kunikida is a liar. not exactly something possible considering ranpo should know by now but it’s still… there. it’s possible.

that's it! i hope you enjoyed. sorry if it's too long i love kunikida. :)♡ let me know what you think as well!

[stirringwinds]

reflecting on ye Olde Hetalia strips 🤔 tbh I think as a chinese person back then, I did weirdly appreciate himaruya’s take where the First Sino-Japanese war was depicted as Kiku being aggressive unprompted and completely surprising Yao because I was concerned about portrayals being too soft on Japanese imperialism. so on that level, it’s by no means a bad or inaccurate thing to show Kiku as capable of being aggressive that way.

but—looking back, I guess it’s very different from how I’d now write the first Sino-Japanese war, particularly when it comes to Yao: Yao’s shock because it’s contrasted to his memories of Kiku as this cute kid he found in a very Princess Kaguya/Tale of the Bamboo Cutter way feels like it skips over a lot lol! Because Yao being backstabbed by Kiku really shouldn’t be a big surprise to him, when we snap in the longer timeline of East Asian geopolitics. the disastrous Imjin War in the 1590s, which came right before Japanese isolation, was a Japanese invasion of Korea with the goal of overthrowing Chinese imperial power after all. and the First Sino-Japanese war is….such a literal mirror of that in so many ways. despite its name, it was a power struggle over Korea too, and this time Japan succeeded in ending Qing China’s political influence over Korea. So—less a surprised and startled man rudely shaken out of his nostalgia than a famous but weary, injured old general grimly feeling the aches and utter weakness sinking into his bones—as his once-student finally beats him at his own game.

Kiku and Yao as I see it, used to play xiangqi (which is basically Chinese chess) together. It’s one of the things Yao “taught” him almost a thousand years ago—and they probably played shogi and go too, which are Japanese strategy games. Coming back to the 1890s, it’s the once-apprentice holding a gun to his former mentor’s head and coolly saying “checkmate”. Probably politely even, and that farcical decorum pours more salt into the wound! and Yao is so, so utterly bitter and resentful—but he’s not surprised. At all. An even longer time ago, during the Tang dynasty, he’d defeated Kiku easily despite being outnumbered in a battle because of his superior naval and military strategies. So, the way I see it, Kiku may have looked to Western military models, but Yao knows that there’s plenty in the humiliation of the First Sino-Japanese War that Kiku learned from his example. History can rhyme in some of the most terribly ironic ways. Disrespecting your teacher and elder may be very un-Confucian, but winning because of superior strategy and technology is right at home in Chinese history.

[homesickfornowhere]

Books that I’ve read recently and would recommend. 🖤 Part 2

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson. A reimagining of Dracula’s brides, written in letters to Dracula from his first wife, Constanta. I love anything vampire-related and can’t even describe how much I loved this book.

A God in the Shed by J. -F. Dubeau. A fantastic horror novel set in a messed up little town. A murder investigation, a serial killer, a god trapped in a shed (literally), the occult, ancient evils, blood and gore, and lots of twists and turns.

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang. A historical/grimdark fantasy novel heavily inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese war. Very violent and graphic, but an amazing read.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. A fun 80s demon possession story set during the satanic panic. A teen girl drops acid, gets lost in the woods, and accidentally gets possessed by a demon — and it’s up to her friend to save her. Gorey and campy.

Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren. A pregnant woman, falsely accused of being a witch and brutally murdered, takes revenge on a Scottish town centuries later. Fun, fast-paced folk horror meets splatterpunk with an endless amount of gore.

The Island by Adrian McKinty. A tense, fast-paced thriller set in in an island off of the coast of Australia. This book genuinely stressed me out and made me want to bite my nails, but I couldn’t put it down. A bit of Wolf Creek vibes.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury. A ghost story and psychological horror with dual timelines. Family drama, a haunted house, toxic parents, etc.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden. A psychological thriller with a great twist. When their realtor doesn’t show up, newlyweds take shelter from a blizzard in a manor that belongs to a missing psychiatrist.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim. This book and the world within it makes my heart flutter. A dreamy, whimsical fairy tale blended with East Asian folklore.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. An atmospheric mystery/thriller. A writer travels to an isolated farmhouse where two unsolved murders and the disappearance of a girl took place decades earlier, and plans to finish her book while snowed in. Things go down hill after she finds a young child outside and decides to bring him in from the cold.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. A retelling of Greek mythology, and such a beautiful and heartbreaking book.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. A a high fantasy novel and standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree. Amazing world building, amazing writing, amazing characters, and dragons.

Ring by Koji Suzuki. I’ve always loved the films, both Ringu and The Ring, but I’ve never read the book until now and I highly recommend it if you haven’t either.