#thus i've been reblogging stuff about both lately

[stinklebug]

sorry for being in my visual novels that people have complicated relationships with era

[bisnes-socks]

The Big Finnish Music Project for International Kääryleet, part 1.

When I was writing this analysis about Menestynyt yksilö, I started thinking a lot about Finnish music, about the influences in Käärijä's music, and about the music he would have grown up hearing and being aware of. He references music and artists a lot, and Finnish music has its own peculiarities that I think influence and affect us all, whether we realise it or not. 

So, I made a list of noteworthy Finnish artists and songs. And I put it under a read more because it's long as fuck and I don't want to force people to scroll through it lol.

NOTE: Because of the Tumblr limit on the amount of videos in one post, this project has 6 parts + a bonus part, so 7 parts in total. I will always put the part number in every post title.

I know there's a list somewhere, Finnish fans recommending other Finnish artists to international kääryleet, but I tried my best to make this not so much based on my own taste and recommendations, and more based on which artists and songs have had a significant impact in the world of music in Finland, and have thus had a lot of influence on Finnish music and people in general. With that being said, not all of these artists are like generally agreed upon as "significant" beyond a hit or two, but I do think all of these artists are great reflections of what was going on in the world of Finnish music at any specific time, and that’s what I also wanted to highlight.

Some of these artists or songs have a direct connection to Käärijä, I've marked them with red, if you want to focus on finding them. With some of the others, I’ve deliberately tried to find connections to things I've talked about in previous Käärijä analysis posts as being something culturally very Finnish, to further highlight what I mean by that and how Käärijä relates to the broader scene of Finnish music.

DISCLAIMER: This list is quite heavy on the early 2000's compared to other eras. The reasons for that are: personally I think that the early 2000's are the most relevant time for a kääryle, as his music has the most influence from that time in my opinion. Which makes sense, he (and the other guys involved in making Käärijä music) would have been at that age where you begin to discover your personal favourites etc. The late 90's and early 2000's were also just a significant time in Finnish music - you'll find multiple artists from that era on this list referred to as "one of the most successful of all time", both domestically and internationally.

Also I'm sorry I know very little about popular Finnish music right now, like 2020's Finnish music, but guys… I get the feeling he doesn't know much either, so does it matter too much lmao.

Also the list is by no means exhaustive, so any other Finns feel free to add stuff in notes or reblogs!

Okay, let’s get to the list! In (mostly) chronological order, going all the way back to the late 60’s.

--

Kirka 

Started his career in music in the late 1960's. Passed away in 2007. One of the most significant names in Finnish iskelmä and rock music, did a metal phase in the late 1980’s as one of the first in Finland to do so. Definitely a household name and still active in the 2000’s before his death as well, so someone any millennial grew up being aware of for sure. Represented Finland in Eurovision in 1984 with the song Hengaillaan. 

This is his first huge hit, Hetki lyö, originally from 1967. This live performance is from 2001.

Hector

A huge name in Finnish rock music, Hector is also known for a folk music vibe. Started his career in the 60’s and is just one of those household names and he is still active. I’ve linked the song Lumi teki enkelin eteiseen, which is an all time classic that I know at least millennials and every generation before them of course knows and can sing. A melancholic song about very depressing subjects, like depression (both mental and economical), suicide, family issues etc. Life in Finland was not rosy in the 70’s, there was still a big wave of Finnish people leaving for Sweden and America in search of jobs and a better life, and this song touches on a lot of the reasons why.

The song is originally from 1973, but here’s a video of Hector performing the song to 36 000 people at the Olympic Stadium as part of the Mestarit tour in 1999. Mestarit was made up of Hector, Kirka, Pave Maijanen and Pepe Willberg, all huge names in Finnish music and their tour and album together were huge cultural moments in Finland.

Danny

Mentioned in Sex = Money. Danny also started in the 60's and was a massive, massive star all through the 70's. He is still active. He was considered as the "Finnish Elvis", not because of similarities in music necessarily but the popularity. He also started wearing a very Elvis looking jumpsuit at some point in the 70's. Danny has also been in the spotlight for his personal relationships a lot. This is his hit, Kesäkatu, also referenced in Sex = Money.

Katri Helena

Queen of iskelmä. Started her career in the 70's, still going strong. She's about the least controversial artist you can find, just so loved all across the country. She's also considered to be a very "Finnish voice". This is one of her biggest hits, Katson sineen taivaan, and this is her representing Finland in Eurovision in 1979.

Vesa-Matti Loiri

Jere's idol. A legendary stage and film actor, comedy performer and a singer. Passed away in 2022. Started his career in the 70's. He is one of those names everyone knows, and almost every generation has something nostalgic they connect to him. This song, Naurava kulkuri, is loosely referenced in Menestynyt yksilö. It's a comedy song that he performs as a character, Jean-Pierre Kusela.

Hyvää puuta is by Vesa-Matti Loiri that became a meme for whatever reason. Referenced by Joost Klein and Jere at Ruisrock.

Juice Leskinen

Considered the father of suomirock. Started his career in music in the 70's, but his influence carries on to this day. I can't think of a more influential name in the world of Finnish pop and rock music. He is considered one of the best lyricists in Finnish music. He wrote both quite dark and quite humourous songs - something I’ve mentioned before as being quite a Finnish thing. One of his most famous songs is Sika, a Christmas song about a pig being slaughtered for Christmas dinner.

I decided to link what I think is probably his most famous song, Syksyn sävel, from 1976.

Quite the example of melancholic Finnish music, as the second line in the song goes “elämä on kuolemista” meaning “(living) life is (about) dying”.

Maarit Hurmerinta

Before we had Käärijä, King of Vantaa, we had Maarit, the Queen of Vantaa. She's an iconic singer some of you might also recognise from the Finnish Beatles Tribute t-shirt Bojan keeps wearing lmao. Her daughter Janna is also a well known and popular singer, you might have seen her in the photos posted when Mikke and Jere went to see Adele. Anyway, this is Maarit’s massive hit Jäätelökesä, originally from 1978, but this live performance must be sometime in the 90's, I think.

Eppu Normaali

Eppu Normaali started out as a punk band in the 70's but mellowed out into a more poprock type direction as time went on. They are also considered part of the Manserock scene of Tampere. They are quite an influential, popular and significant band in the world of Finnish rock, one of those bands everyone knows. This song, Murheellisten laulujen maa, is basically about the generational trauma of being raised a man in a country as emotionally constipated as Finland, and how it drives people to alcohol and violence. This song is originally from 1982, the live performance is from 2010.

Kikka

The foremother of the soft porn vibe later mastered by the likes of Käärijä, Antti Tuisku and Erika Vikman. Her songs were quite naughty and her career in music revolved around entertainment and playfully sexual vibes. She was a huge star in the 1980's but badly mistreated by the media, and unfortunately had a very difficult personal life. She passed away in 2005.

End of part one! We've only reached the 80's, but as you can see, there are already several artists on the list that have a direct connection or are a direct influence on Käärijä/Jere. Everyone on this list so far is a household name, and honestly artists that could be referenced in a Käärijä song any given day.

Part 2 introduces lots of 80's rock from Finland.

[wonderofasunrise]

...or at least I think I do.

Anyway, something tells me that it'd be neat to have a well-organised pinned post, so here goes.

I go by M around this place, and I've been back here since 2020 after almost a decade of absence from this hellsite. I'm a 28-year-old queer woman from Indonesia, and I spend around 30% of my fandom life writing fic, 5% being a connoisseur of...less-than-stellar and often obscure movies starring hot actresses that I like (Jeri Ryan, Gates McFadden, Denise Crosby, Laura Innes, Sherry Stringfield, Maura Tierney to name a few...), and the remaining 65% lamenting the fact that I'm a fandom participant from a non-Western country where English is not an official language which is...well, let's say it can be quite a lonely existence.

My two primary fandoms here are ER and Star Trek (The Next Generation, Voyager, Picard), so you'll find that most of my posts and reblogs are related to those two - with a dash of other stuff. I got into ER during lockdown in 2020, and it remains one of the best decisions I've ever made. It is my favourite show ever, and as of now Kerry Weaver is still the only queer character on TV that I can relate to fully as a struggling queer woman in a less-than-supportive environment. ER was also my entry to online fandom spaces, particularly Twitter and Tumblr. Star Trek is the one fandom I never expected to really get into, given that I was never too big on sci-fi, though according to my mum it runs in the family since my late grandfather loved The Original Series and was an admirer of Spock. So far I have watched TNG, VOY, and PIC, with VOY being my favourite - especially my beloved former Borg drone and half-Klingon.

As I said, fanfiction is my thing here and I've been into it since I was around 14 - though I didn't start writing seriously until I was an adult. Among other things, fic helped me learn English tremendously as a teenager, and though naturally I still make mistakes here and there I feel far more confident writing fic in English than in Indonesian, lol. So far I have 29 published works on AO3, all ER and Trek. My favourite characters, and thus the ones I write the most about, are Kerry Weaver, Susan Lewis, Abby Lockhart, and Carol Hathaway (ER); Tasha Yar, Data, Beverly Crusher, and Deanna Troi (TNG); and Kathryn Janeway, B'Elanna Torres, and Seven of Nine (VOY). My preferred ships are Kerry/Susan, Kerry/Abby, and Abby/Susan (ER); Picard/Crusher and Data/Tasha (TNG); and B'Elanna/Seven (VOY).

These are some of my personal favourites that I've written:

ER The Ache for Home (Kerry/Susan) When All We Have is Here and Now (Kerry/Susan) In a Sacred Place (Kerry/Susan) Like Nothing Before (Abby/Susan)

Star Trek In Salvo (TNG x VOY crossover; Seven, the Doctor, & Beverly) The Colours Are Bright (VOY; Janeway & Seven) One Hundred Hours (VOY; B'Elanna & Seven)

For more of those, here's my AO3 profile - do feel free to leave a comment if you enjoy any of my works! I also take prompts for the aforementioned fandoms, and if you have any please hit me up here. In case you somehow happen to enjoy my vibes, I'm also on Twitter as @lobsterbreaker and my ask here is (almost) always open. In addition, I'm a mod on two queer-focused Discord servers: que[ER] Fic and Fandom for all things ER fanfiction and fandom with a twist of gayness and Space MILFs for our favourite hot ladies in space - please let me know if you're interested in joining either (or both 👀)!

That's about it, really, so if you've been so kind to bear with me here you fucking rock, I love you, I wish you the best yadda yadda yadda, and here's to more medical and space shenanigans!

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Something about the screenshot Let's Play

Hey- to those of you who have been following my Pokémon Reborn screenshot Let's Play, I've been thinking of something. From the beginning, I've been posting everything on my main blog- my only blog- yeah? Same blog I keep all my reblogs and occasional other posts?

Well, as of late, I've been thinking that I...may not be fully satisfied with that setup. Feels a bit...crowded, doing both reblogs and Let's Play stuff in one place. I don't hate it, but...I've been considering making a secondary blog, one focused on my screenshot LP stuff (I could work out the logistics of how that'll work with the previous posts and chapters later). And I think it's especially fitting to think of that now, having just reached a major milestone of 10 chapters.

However, I know this isn't just about me. There are at least a small handful of people out there who actually regularly read the LP updates, so for you folks, I'd like to know your preferences. Thus, I'm actually using the poll feature for the first time, for an actual poll!

I've already done the play session for the next chapter, so by the time this poll closes and the results are in, everything should be done and ready, and all I'll have to do is just get posting like normal, one way or the other. Until then- just vote if you have an actual preference, don't vote if you don't care either way, and we'll go from there!

[a-iya]

hey let's pretend that this reply is also not almost a month late lmaooo <333

damn i'm so happy to hear that you listened to all of the songs i linked (even if you didn't vibe with all if any of them) 🥺 it's always so hard for me to consume media that i get recommended for one reason or another so i don't hold it against anyone else who also feels like that. thus my expectations that anyone will give my recommendations a chance are pretty low lmao. but the fact that you listened to all of them is <333 wow thank you now i have to listen to your fav songs too

bling bang bang born getting the hype it deserves from everyone is so crazy to me. it feels like the whole world is on the same page about it being one of the most iconic anime bops and creepy nuts should be bestowed the respect in the form of a grammy lmao

you and i both seem to be the type to need to absorb content in peace!! i cannot concentrate when there are distractions in the background and it bothers me when i cannot experience a piece a song or show in its entirety, the way it's intended to be enjoyed like

specialz also literally changed the game fr like. it's trauma but also you can't help but make a stank face while listening because it's sooo good. it's so crazy you ran into jjk enjoyers at a concert!! i hardly interact with strangers even when i'm in a sea of people who all enjoy the same artist so it would never even cross my mind to wonder if they're also weebs or not. the social anxiety is too real :")))

ao no sumika is one of the songs i listed where i only have the instrumental!! i didn't like the melody enough to save the actual song rip. but i just watched tatsuya kitani's live performances on the first take that you linked and his voice is sooo good!! so clear. literally sounds like he ate the CDs, as the k-pop stans would say LMAO

you're right about that song novelbright did for a sign of affection; i do have it in my weeb playlist but i didn't think it was worth mentioning since it was just the one song by itself from that anime. and tbh i think i'd prefer an instrumental if there is one 😭 but i don't absolutely hate the song with the vocals in it so it's fine

anyway so wow, you basically already watched 90% of all the animes i've watched 😭 i'm but a rookie after all. although i do remember in another ask, you showed your physical journal of all the animes you watched and the number passed 100 titles so i'm still a novice compared to you LOL but it looks like there are a few i've watched that you didn't make it on your list and i can safely say i'd recommend most if not all of them!!

my love story!!! is a definite yes. i would say it's somewhat similar to kimi ni todoke (which i'm still working on... cause it's so slow... which is typical for any shojo anime but i'm just super impatient i guess 😵‍💫 like i wanna smash their faces together and tell them to just kiss already!! 😭) but this one is a little faster paced than kimi ni todoke and even though the main girl looks like a kid compared to the main guy, their dynamic is very cute and i loved watching through the whole thing. was an easy binge for me

i've been meaning to watch fruits basket because i see you reblog stuff for it sometimes, and you always mention it in your favorites!! i have a hard time getting into fantasy and also anything that's over 12 episodes but it's definitely been on my list for a while because of you lol

unrelated but i've also started bungo stray dogs (i'm only on the second episode). thought i'd mention since this one is another show that i've been meaning to get on since i see you and a few other people reblog stuff for bsd that i don't really understand (yet). as expected, i love dazai and i recognized mamoru miyano right away. and the va who voices reiner/tokoyami/asahi!! i can't remember his name but he's so much more aggressive here than in any of his characters in the other shows lmao. i told myself i'd write out these replies before continuing (even though it's now almost 2am and idk if i'll be watching anymore tonight) but you have influenced me a lot since we started following each other!!

so well, what anime have you watched and what anime songs have you added? 🙈

my god i am so sorry it took this long for me to answer this!! ya girl has been super busy and exhausted from life tbh. but i am finally back home and trying to catch up with all the things i need to do ;-; starting with this ask!

my anime watched (on a google spreadsheet lmao):

i think the total is 25! there are some that i kinda watched in passing while my sister had it on the tv and i just happened to be nearby, but for these i only count the ones that i actively paid attention to. definitely not as many as a well-versed weeb but i can no longer call myself a beginner either lmao.

i only have music from the following animes: demon slayer, my hero academia, attack on titan, jujutsu kaisen, assassination classroom, mashle, paradox live (unfortunately 😵‍💫). i have the opening theme of my happy marriage and the instrumental of the ending but i feel like that barely counts. some of the ones i have from demon slayer are like instrumental/characters theme covers that other people make cause i don't think the official ost is released on spotify and any osts uploaded on youtube get taken down sooner or later 😔 (mugen train i'm referring to you 😩 you didn't ask but i have so many favs from the ost [tracks 21 {tanjiro vs. enmu}-25, 27-30, 32-33 {rengoku vs. akaza}])

currently only 36 songs in my weeb playlist, but there are definitely songs i know that i just haven't saved! either cause i don't like it enough to save or cause i don't actively think about saving anime music when i initially hear it lol :") or cause it's not on spotify and i'm too lazy to download locally. i only saved a bunch of MHA stuff recently because you sent me that ask about it a while ago LMAO

i wish i could pull together my own spotify wrapped-esque graphics since this year's sucked BALLS (i heard they laid off a bunch of their staff and used ai for the wrapped this year. ugh). but for the stats themselves, looks like songs (lyrics) vs. instrumentals/themes (no lyrics) is split ~60/40. some of these songs with lyrics i would definitely forfeit for the instrumentals if were actually on spotify (e.g. some of the paralive stuff... the rapping is sooo cringe but the beats are sooo good 😭)

some of my personal no-skip themes that are in my playlist:

mashle: bling bang bang born (of course. iconic for a reason. also in my gym playlist cause of the fast tempo LMAO)

jjk: specialz, lost in paradise (the trumpet?? ugh i am gagged)

demon slayer: kizuna no kiseki (swordsmith village opening... so good this shit almost makes me cry idk why), zohakuten/hantengu theme

mha: dakara hitori ja nai, shout baby, rokutosei, flowers by asian kung fu generation INSTRUMENTAL (from that deku/rody montage scene in world heroes mission. the singing did not do it for me but the strings and the guitar by themselves?? chef's kiss. no notes. literal perfection. esp the last 2 minutes of the instrumental, with the slow buildup to the star of the show, the electric guitar?? brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectac-)

WEEB songs i listen to when i need to lock in while doing my godforsaken call reports at work (i normally work most efficiently when i have one song on loop for like an hour or so until they all get done. almost always an instrumental, even if not a weeb one lmao):

flowers instrumental - asian kung fu generation (mentioned above. truly a masterpiece of a composition) [mha]

eren zahyo - hiroyuki sawano (goat fr. in particular the last minute and a half always gets me so emotional because of the end of S2 where erwin talks about getting closer to finding out the truth. i literally search it up on youtube sometimes and watch just to feel something) [aot]

attack on d - hiroyuki sawano (the childish singing is a little weird to me but the rest of the composition is so good that i can overlook it. also this played while eren/mikasa basically confessed to each other and that moment will forever be etched into my mind. sOBS) [aot]

more than words instrumental - hitsujibungaku (literally 11/10 without the singing. i'm sorry but with the melodies and the voices "it's so bad i want to give it a zero" 😭) [jjk]

ao no sumika instrumental - tatsuya kitani (the first 10 secs always hits idk) [jjk]

uta to hibiki - hiroyuki sawano [this was from a movie called bubble. the movie itself was mid {like a watered down little mermaid essentially} but hiroyuki sawano always hits it out the park with the music]

i'm sorry, you probably never intend to receive a 25-page master thesis when you put these asks in my inbox and here i am rambling on into oblivion about my extremely particular music tastes 💀 like i'm just imagining we listen to the same song and you're like "yeah i mean i guess it's alright" meanwhile i'm over here losing my goddamn mind LMAO. i think different songs just attach to people's brains differently. but this was fun to answer and i appreciate you sending this ask! curious to know if any of my top picks are also yours!!

[gamemakings]

Devlog 3: Blood in the Cells

I haven't worked much on the game lately because of the game jam and other stuff, so how about we talk about its core design history?

Blood in the Cells was the last project I made before I started working on my roguelike, and it ended up being a sort-of prototype for it.

Before I began learning Godot, I had a tendency to start a lot of RPGMaker games, experiment with different plugins and combat systems and stuff, and abandon them without getting anything finished. I recognised that was holding me back a lot - both in the sense of getting anything done and in the sense that RPGMaker is a bit shit. So I decided to make one last, small, full game in RPGMaker then abandon it forever in favour of learning a proper engine.

I decided from the beginning I mostly wanted to focus on systems and encounters rather than a narrative, which would get me sidetracked fast, so I tried to think of how I could strip down a turn-based RPG as much as possible while still having great tactical combat.

So I ended up with the most interesting thing about the game: having a battle party of a single character, who had as much depth or more as a full party in a traditional JRPG. This allowed me to do away with party members and all their associated baggage and focus more on the mechanics of encounters and battling (although I did also do good work on the level design, I think!).

And so development went. I was (and am in retrospective, surprisingly), quite happy with the result, so much so that, seeing the potential of the battle system, I decided to remake it and expand it into a proper game with its own engine so I could do everything I wanted.

Blood in the Cells had a semi-random equipment acquisition system, where the places you got equipment were the same but the equipment itself was not. Equipment also gave you all your abilities, and using equipment a certain number of times levelled you up, so it was the central pillar of progression. This gave it something of a roguelike feel where every run through the game would be slightly different and you'd be encouraged to try out different things rather than stick to the same abilities throughout the whole game. Thus, remaking it into a proper roguelike felt like the natural thing to do.

Still with the stripping-down mindset, the first thing I did design-wise was to cut equipment and stats and focus solely on skills, since equipment was just a middle step to those. This took out a lot of unnecessary fluff and programming, and made the game feel much tighter. I also cut the special physical attacks and defends and just boiled it down to your basic Attack and Defend.

Your status is way more streamlined and in a single screen thanks to cutting out stats and equipment.

Finally, I took a look at status effects. In BITC, it wasn't uncommon that you'd stack the same status 20 times or more on a single enemy, yet that would only affect the duration. So I made sure that all status effects had their effects based on their stacks, and avoided as much as possible having extra variables not affected by the stacks. This opened up a lot of new gameplay possibilities and put a lot of focus on buffing and debuffing, and was perhaps the biggest change combat-wise.

Crazy stacking for crazy effects is fun.

There have been a lot more design changes over time, but the core of the game was well-defined since the prototype, and I've strived to keep it so through every design change.

So that about wraps it up! Join me next week for either another design deep dive or a showing-off of what I've been working on. Either way, like and reblog and follow and do whatever it is you do on Tumblr I guess.

[whollyfook]

I started answering on the post but Tumblr ate it twice so here's hoping third time is the charm. Also, this turned into an essay, bc I really care for you and wanted to get it all in.

So, as to the drabble "flopping"; I feel you, it always hurts when that happens. But there's a few factors to consider, which is to say stuff outside of your control going on. The first being: Tumblr's not the best place for posting fic. It used to be pretty good, but those days are past; ironically the tagging system improving contributed to that. Before people had to reblog or like posts to find/be able to find later. Now they can actually search for it. The second is naturally that the nsfw ban scared a lot of writers off and people stopped feeling this place for fic so much (not to mention the rise of discourse also did that).

The next is simply, as ever, timing. I used to work in community management (long story) so I am a nerd that looks into the analytics and: https://miraculousfanworks.tumblr.com/post/627913410660663296/attract-those-readers-when-to-post-on-ao3#:~:text=How%20many%20stories%20were%20in,from%2012pm%20to%205pm%20PST. Despite it being an AO3 reason, I've found it holds true for Tumblr too, when I link my fic. Late in the day on humpday just means less traffic overall.

And finally, and this is the painful bit: it's a small fandom. Especially when you compare it to 911 which I think you likely are. I've been suffering from the same myself lately, I've posted what feels like some personal best fic............for teeny fandoms and niche pairings and ten people. Add to that that the show is both off season rn, and, the real kicker, is not a weekly airer. You've noticed how the weekly episode of 911 then has a corresponding uptick of making and consuming of fanworks. Simply put, there's new content so there's new material to work with and people are going "huh that was a cliffhanger, let's soothe it with fic". OBX is netflix and thus generally has a big burst of creation around it dropping then a longish tail and then little radio noise until then. The Witcher is a good comparison, but has two factors going for it: related media (books and video games) and big name stars. OBX is, basically, a lil kayak doing its best. But there's simply not as many people who consume fanwork for it.

Now love, and writing, is never wasted! Every word is a gift you give yourself and your skills. But I wanted to give you a sort of "cold logic" of why that reaction might be what it is, COMPLETELY separate from your actual work or the quality of it you may perceive.

Which was a very long winded way of saying: our reward based ape brains love the numbers. But the numbers come from lots of places. What matters, and what we can't quantify, is how much people loved it. The people creeping on your page and rereading it for the sixth time right now. The ones that messages it to friends. The ones that will think about it, out of the blue for ages. Maybe years. There's no counter for that. Keep creating <3

This might be the most helpful thing anyone could’ve said to me. It’s hard for me to not equate “success” or interaction to my self worth and my skill and I needed like logical factual reasons why it may not be doing well. I knew all along it’s a tiny fandom and I’ve seen with gifsets that interaction isn’t great rn even if you have 8634346323 followers, but idk, I just. I feel like a little kid bringing macaroni art to her mom and hoping she loves it. I was so proud of putting words on paper and like, was immediately like why is no one here to see it. And historically I’m awful to myself anyway, a thing thats exacerbated by like past trauma and shit so. And you’re right, I was kind of I guess thinking 911 numbers in my head and that’s not logical either.

I love this fandom and I haven’t been so inspired by a fandom in a long time so I’m gonna keep writing, if for no reason than I just want to. But I’d be lying if I told you the lack of interaction isn’t gonna be hard for me every single time too. Because that’s just how my shitty brain works I live with one finger on the self destruct button at all times.

Thank you so much for sending this, it really did help. Might fuck around and post the fic to ao3 or something 👀.

[nyerus]

Hey I originally followed you for YOI stuff and since that seems to be on haitus, I have seen you and a lot of people rebloing stuff about a different anime or manga (i think) with different mlm relationships? I think they're two diff shows and I've heard about mdzs before. But lately youve been reblogging stuff from a manga tagged tgcf and it looks pretty cool--so i was wondering how I could get into it and what its about? Does it have actual gay charas?

Hello! I’m sorry for the late response! This morphed from a simple answer into a beginner guide of sorts, so I hope you don’t mind! I know there’s like 500000 guides out there, but I figured I’d give it a shot too! ❤

So the stuff you’ve been seeing everywhere is indeed MDZS or related to it–including on my own blog! (I promise when YOI comes back from war, I’ll be all over that again ;o;!!!)

So these works are all by the same author, Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù (MXTX) and they are separate danmei (i.e. Chinese BL) novels, though they share a lot of similarities between them:

MDZS (Mó Dào Zǔ Shī) – Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

TGCF (Tiān Guān Cì Fú) – Heaven Official’s Blessing

SVSSS – Scum Villian’s Self-Saving System

All of them are complete and fan translated, and I’ll answer your last question first: yes, they have actual gay characters! In the novels, the main couples end up canonically married! \o/ In some of the adaptations, their romantic relationships are also maintained (e.g. the manhuas (Chinese graphic novel)), though censorship is present.

Links will be added below this post! Grab some popcorn, this is long!

･:*:･ﾟ’★🐇MDZS🐇★･ﾟ’･:*:･

MDZS《魔道祖师》is definitely the most popular work by MXTX, as it has the most adaptations. You’ve almost certainly been seeing gifs and photosets from its donghua (Chinese animation) or live action the most. However, it has a manhua and audio drama (in both Chinese and Japanese) as well!

Synopsis: Reviled as the infamous Yiling Laozu, Wei Wuxian harnessed the forbidden dark power of demonic cultivation. Once the cultivation world decided he was too dangerous to leave alone, he was hunted down, and a terrible battle ensued that cost Wei Wuxian his life—and the lives of many others. 13 years later, he is resurrected under mysterious circumstances into the body of the pariah Mo Xuanyu. Now with this second chance at life (and while hiding his real identity), Wei Wuxian has to uncover the truth about a powerful malevolent spirit. It may just be the key to revealing a series of heinous secrets hidden from the cultivation world for years. And while the world may still hate him for crimes he didn’t commit, there’s one person who’s on his side—the illustrious Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji—and is willing to stand by him against all odds. The two have a long and complex history, and Wei Wuxian is unsure of Lan Wangji’s motivations for helping him. But it couldn’t be more simple: respect and love.

Scene from the donghua.

Still from the live action, called “Chén Qíng Lìng”/“CQL”/”The Untamed.”

Panel from the manhua.

Art from the Chinese audio drama.

The great thing about MDZS is that you can really pick your poison in terms of what adaptation you want to get started with. If you are absolutely brand-new to the danmei scene, then starting with the donghua or manhua may be your best bet (both are ongoing). The novel of course is the most beloved, being the source, but all the adaptations have their own charms! They’re all worth checking out, and will keep you busy for quite a while.

･:*:･ﾟ’★🌸TGCF🌸★･ﾟ’･:*:･

Now, for TGCF《天官赐福》—that’s where my photosets are coming from: the ongoing manhua that started in October. There’s a donghua planned for late this year, and a live action in talks (info about that is largely unknown, but is slated for production sometime after the donghua release). TGCF actually has the same deal structure as MDZS apparently, so we’ll be getting an audio drama as well if that’s true.

Synopsis: Talented and virtuous, Crown Prince Xie Lian first ascended to the heavens when he was only 17. Once the darling of the earth and heavens for his boundless skill and purity of heart, he ended up falling from grace—not once, but twice! Subsequently, he became the laughing stock of the three realms. Spending almost 800 years roaming the earth and collecting scraps, he becomes known as the pitiful “rubbish god” and “god of misfortune.” No one could have expected Xie Lian to ascend for a third time, but fate seems to have something in store for this disgraced yet compassionate immortal. Thankfully, he is not alone, as the widely-feared ghost king, Hua Cheng, seems to have a special interest in helping him. The two of them embark on a series of adventures that unravel the secrets of their world, and of themselves.

Panel from the manhua.

Scene from the Donghua PV.

The novel for TGCF is a great place to start, especially considering how the manhua is still in it’s early stages (just starting it’s 2nd arc as of writing this post). The novel is long, incredibly well-written, and well-translated. The manhua is absolutely stunning, and follows the novel very closely thus far.

･:*:･ﾟ’★🎋SVSSS🎋★･ﾟ’･:*:･

The underrated sibling of the three, SVSSS《人渣反派自救系統 》has only the novel to interact with for right now. A donghua is planned for this year. There was a manhua, but it was cancelled due to some problems with the publisher afaik. Word on the street is that they’re searching for a new team for it, so we’ll continue to pray!!!

Synopsis: Shen Yuan is an avid reader of the web novel Proud Immortal Demon Way. The novel revolves around the protagonist Luo Binghe, a kind child who is tormented endlessly by his Shizun (teacher/mentor) Shen Qingqiu, until he turns into a powerful demon lord and exacts his violent revenge. While initially a fan of the story, Shen Yuan hates the unsatisfactory ending. Upon dying suddenly, he finds himself transmigrated into the novel, at the behest of The System—a sci-fi interface which gives him missions and directives. Unfortunately, he ends up in the place of the cruel Shen Qingqiu out of all people! This new Shen Qingqiu now has to use his knowledge of the novel to navigate around the plot, within the restrictions that The System has implemented. He has to find a way to ensure a better ending, if he wants to keep this second chance at life. His plan for doing this is to be as kind and encouraging as possible to the innocent Luo Binghe, who quickly takes a shine to this new Shen Qingqiu. Even after forced to the dark side, and despite the tension between them after this, Luo Binghe won’t let anyone else touch his beloved Shizun.

Cover of the Thai release of the novel.

SVSSS only really has the novel to interact with as of right now. There’s currently an excellent re-translation in progress by tumblr user Faelicy! If you want to get started now, however, you can read what she’s done so far and then swap over to the old translation afterward.

･:*:･ﾟ’★NOTES★･ﾟ’･:*:･

• ALL three novels are intended for an R-18+ audience ONLY. Other adaptations are safe for minors over 16 years of age.

• Please be aware that the novels may contain potentially triggering content. Feel free to ask me for content warnings if you need them.

• All three of these are totally different from one another and only share common themes typical of the wuxia/xianxia genres.

• The original Chinese raws of MDZS and SVSSS are no longer available for purchase on JJWXC (publishing site). You can find print versions on Taobao. TGCF, however, is still available!

• If you’d like more info on anything, please reach out to me! I’m happy to help.

• LINKS WILL BE ADDED BELOW THIS POST.

[solannecontinuum]

Oh!! So this is your second time getting to use Tumblr? Well, perhaps I can help a little bit! I am a 2012 Tumblr veteran, and it's both changed in a lot of ways yet also stood the same in contrast to most social media sites. Here's what I can share with you, based on the years I've used this site.

For starters, there actually really isn't any algorithms, and if there is, it is are very basic in nature. Tumblr is very good like that. It does take some time to get the ball rolling, regarding gaining traction, and you'll still experience hit-or-miss engagement at times, but there's no complex secret algos that do secret things such as showing your posts more if you do certain formats (like how IG prioritizes reels versus posts), hiding your posts for using certain words (more on that in a bit), or even shadow banning. That doesn't exist here at all, despite how most mainstream socials behave that way.

Dashboards can be set to show posts chronologically. It's not on by default, and most likely your dashboard is currently on "best posts first". You can change this in Settings > Dashboard > turn off "Best Stuff First." and you will have a pure chronological dashboard!

The first five tags are what are most important regarding your works showing up in tags. I was still surprised that this is still a thing (was implemented in mid-2010s, I believe?), but yes, make sure that you keep the most relevant tags as the first five. Sounds a little strange, but that's just how it continues to be, for some reason. You can have more than five tags, of course, but keeping the first fives ones the most relevant can help you be seen by more people.

Speaking of tags, PLEASE tag any content warnings with full, uncensored words so that tag filters can detect them. This whole dumb word censoring BS started on TikTok and Twitter, and sadly thanks to the mass migration to Tumblr currently happening, that censoring certain words mentality is making its way onto here, in which IS NOT GOOD AT ALL. Like I previously stated, there is literally no shadow banning happening on here, so it's not necessary to censor words. Most of all, people have certain CWs filtered so that posts containing anything about them are not shown; however, by doing shit like "cw bl00d" (real thing I saw) when tagging, it's not detected by those who have "cw blood" in their filters, thus that post still shows up regardless. This is heavily frowned upon here, so please type the full word for any CWs you need to tag.

You can also have your own blog theme! Many newcomers are not even aware that you can actually have a viewable blog page besides the default scrolling one that shows up upon clicking someone's username. You can turn this on in Settings > Blogs (click your blog) > Enable custom theme. Tumblr provides loads of versatile free blog theme templates that you can adjust, but creating blog themes via HTML is also available! Probably the most freedom you can have regarding blog customization. Real quick, I HIGHLY recommend visiting themesrec if you're seeking theme templates but made with HTML!! I've been using them since late high school, and there's a lot to choose from with high customization (despite the blog being dead for years now).

Some other little tidbits (added @ 8:17AM)

If you wish to comment on someone's art, you can do so in the tags of your reblogs! People like to leave comments in the tags and really gush about what you've made, and it's definitely one of the best aspects to this website. There's nothing I love more than seeing a reblog with someone having a happy stroke in the tags! Stuff like that brightens days for sure. And as a final note to let you know .... growth isn't or shouldn't really be your endgoal/ your purpose for posting art on here, so I would not recommend treating Tumblr that way. IG, TikTok, and Twitter have done some serious damage hamming in on becoming big with big numbers and "OOOOOH gotta appease the almighty algorithm gods to get numbers!!" n' junk. But Tumblr isn't really about that. Even having a couple hundred followers is good enough, honestly. Tumblr's mainly a place to vibe most of all; all you really need is a target audience or circle of friends n' mutuals and just vibe n' share sillies, versus trying to endlessly grow to receive acknowledgement and do what's trending or whatever while literally lose your soul in the process. By letting yourself just be, your experience on Tumblr will be a WHOLE lot more fun and enriching.

Those are the most important ones I can think of at the moment, but please, if you have any further Tumblr questions, please do drop them in my ask box!!! There's so much to Tumblr and there's a reason why it's much more chill and comfortable compared to TikTok and Twitter - or uh, as the kids say, Tumblr is our HELLSITE /POSITIVE / AFFECTIONATE and not Twitter/TikTok HELLSITE /NEGATIVE /DEROGATORY

PS: here we do not use very modern words such as "moots" or "oomfs" - we just say "mutuals" and "followers". Thought I'd let you know.

OH MY GOODNESS, YOU'RE ON TUMBLR AS WELL?!?! YES!!! I always love seeing your art on my feed on InstaSky, and I will always adore the commission you made for me of my beloved little moth goddess. 💖

oh my gosh hiii?? nice to see a familliar face! 🫶

Yes!! it's my second attempt to grow a tumblr, IT'S VERY UNUSUAL HERE and in meantime I'm slowly palping algorithms

I'm happy i made something you cherish till this day :'''з

[bravest-notts]

my apologies for reblogging my own post twice in one day but i saw @revethification 's tags requesting links so here's the ones i've been watching! Late to the Party -- he generally knows d&d but not cr, she's brand new to the whole thing. they posted the first few reaction vids back to back and i think it's ep 3 where they start off like "oh wow we didn't realize critical role had such a big community! hello everyone who's shown up :O" which is adorable lmao

pReview'd -- both play d&d and have a home game that, by viewer request, they take turns talking starting a few eps in. one of them has watched cr2/the vecna arc of cr1 so between the two, they catch most of the fandom references and all the nods to d&d in general. big percy fans, esp after ep3. they tear up during the show intro just about every time and gush about how important d&d is and i love it

Syntell -- he knows d&d and is a fan of animation, she doesn't know the former and typically doesn't enjoy the latter (until now lmao). immediate scanlan fans, even made a burt reynolds joke in the first episode haha. these are the ones who pegged keyleth's character arc potential, about how she's the most powerful one but lacks confidence.

Bizzybron -- he doesn't know anything about cr OR d&d but he gets so into the show so fast. i also think his voice is v nice to listen to so i've been enjoying his vids a lot. he'd started the show at a rough point of life stuff happening and apparently critters have been very supportive and kind in the comments so far which is both unsurprising for the fandom and also great to hear. he was also critter hugged between eps 2 and 3 which is cute. also he had the best line i have heard thus far which had me cry laughing so hard i had to pause. he was on ashley's imdb because he recognized her voice and spotted the credit for the main campaign and went "THERE'S A CRITICAL ROLE SHOW?!"

The Movie Couple -- both are critters! one has watched all of both campaigns, the other has watched cr2 and on but knows bits and pieces of cr1, so they're both very hype and picking out all the references. i'm only at the start of their ep4 reaction vid but it's been great so far

ive fallen down a rabbit hole of listening to reaction youtubers tlovm vids thanks to @criticalcoruscant and it's an absolute delight to watch people become critters in real time

it's fascinating what things they pick up early on, too, and how different channels hone in on different characters' development arc setups. and which characters become their faves! percy is obviously a big hit ep 3 and on, but keyleth and scanlan seem pretty popular as well. and seeing people react to stuff that critters find pretty blase is amazing -- percy whipping out a gun is the obvious one, but shock at trinket caught me off guard bc i, yknow, expected the bear.