#tkas

[cryptidnamedhabit]

@thekoopalingsandstuffs spewroy incorrect quotes while I procrastinate making things for my own blog :]

[fraternum-momentum]

mfs when they see dead dove content in the game that the creator specifically warned them about

[somie]

Tka doodle i made on ms paint

[sibylsleaves]

"maybe she's the one who needs taking care of" he says, while giving buck an ice pack a beer and a pep talk

[syncogon]

[QZGS TL] Butterfly Blue's Reflections, Ten Years Later

T/N: On April 28, 2024, for the tenth anniversary of the completion of The King's Avatar novel, author Butterfly Blue wrote the following Weibo post:

Translation below:

2014 April 28, to 2024 April 28. Ten years. 😲

It’s a bit of a blur, but yes, it’s been ten years. ⁉️

My editor told me in advance that I should write something to discuss my reflections, but I kept refusing on the grounds that I didn’t have any reflections to share. 🥺🙏 After going back and forth for a while, I suddenly thought, "not having any reflections" was itself something that I could share with everyone. 🤔

How come I don’t have any reflections? Because it’s been ten years. 😞

Ever since that day ten years ago, when I wrote that final period. The story of the world of Glory ended there. 🤗 And ever since that day, my thoughts and feelings on this story, this world, and all these different characters have gradually grown fewer and fewer. 😞👉👈

In 2022, as part of a Qidian event, I wrote another prequel chapter. I followed my ideas and thought patterns from my past prequel chapters to write this new installment. But as I wrote it, it was choppy, it was awkward, it was forced. 😫 The forty-plus-year-old me, regretfully, can no longer write well this story that brought me so much joy and delight during my thirties. 😞😞 This is probably the power of time. In the end, I have no way of maintaining my mood and state from ten years ago. 😞👉👈 When I think about this, I suddenly realize that “time” should be the true protagonist of this reflection, rather than anything else I could share about this work. 🥹 

With that, I immediately become even more saddened. Ten years have passed, I’m no longer young, my hair is gone, my beard occasionally sprouts some white strands, and I can no longer sleep right after eating due to acid reflux…🧎

And The King’s Avatar, after ten years, is still there. There are still people who see it, there are still people who like it. Through the passage of time, this is, to me, the greatest source of comfort. 🫡

Thank you to The King’s Avatar. Thank you to the past, present, and future readers who pick up this work. Thank you to the many staff of all roles who have kept busy for this work. 🙇

I wish that time could stand still. I absolutely do not look forward to another ten years passing by, but that day will inevitably come. 👋

Then, I will wish everyone happy travels on their life journey! I hope this work will be the flowers that decorate your happy journey. 🫂🫂

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5028124733474872

[caiuxraven]

The long wait is over. Get ready to level up because The King's Avatar (Quan Zhi Gao Shou) Season 3 officially premieres TOMORROW, May 31st!

Time to dust off your keyboards and prep for Ye Xiu's epic return! Who's hyped?!

#TheKingsAvatar#QuanZhiGaoShou#Season3#Donghua

[tka-calendar]

Happy holidays everyone!

We are pleased to officially release our first ever King's Avatar fan calendar! Composed of 13 artworks (12 months + cover art) with 12 accompanying fics, this 2024 digital calendar is free for all to enjoy!

You can even download the files here--we have them as both images and pdfs, as well as desktop and full calendar versions.

And of course don't forget to check out the accompanying fics for each month by scanning the QR code, or check out the AO3 collection.

And last but not least, be sure to check out and support all our talented contributors this year!

(see below for the contributors on tumblr!)

January: @jubeishrimp (art)

April: @lycheeluv (art)

May: @oakleaffic (fic)

June: @needs-more-hugs (art)

July/October: @pushthequorumbutton (art/fic)

August: @nullians (art)

September: @gold-keys (art)

November: @carpefish (art)

December: @divixxyy (art)

[pandabakajanai-blog]

Happy birthday Han Wenqing!!

[greenhorn-art]

World Champions | Artwork for World Champions by TheDefenestrator by TheDefenestrator, art by Blurb_brain

Fandom: The King's Avatar | 全职高手

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Words: 71 944

At the end of season 4 of the Glory Pro Alliance, the government finally receives the information it has been waiting for: The other players have caught up. Or, In which Glory has been a government recruitment ploy for remote-piloted mecha operators all along.

About the Book

FONTS: Mundo Serif, Azonix [dafont], Segoe UI Symbol

IMAGES: Illustration by Blurb_brain [AO3]; cover image by NASA ID: 440611 [Rawpixel]; Planet Earth background ID: 6331593 [Rawpixel]; Circuit lines background ID: 3117935 [Rawpixel]; endpapers' image by Eric Eastman [Unsplash]; Swoksaar, Desert Dust, Lord Grim, Vaccaria, and Cloud Piercer [The King's Avatar Wikia]

MATERIALS: regular printer paper (8.5"x11", 96 bright, 20lb), 80pt bookboard, Iris Bookcloth (colour: Black Pearl), Neenah cardstock (8.5"x11", bright white, 65lb), waxed linen thread (white, 30/3 size), embroidery floss (shades 3750, 350, 3845, 370), leather cording (1.9mm diameter), Reeves’ acrylic paint (Mars Black, Phthalo Blue, Titanum White), Americana acrylic paint (glow in the dark), ph neutral pva glue (Books by Hand)

PROGRAMS USED: Typeset in Affinity Publisher, cover/title page/endpapers designed in Affinity Designer/Photo, QR codes generated with LibreOffice Writer, PDF arranged for printing with Bookbinder-JS

BINDING STYLE: quarto, case bound (slightly rounded, with oxford hollow, forgot to use tapes)

.

Fenes' "Glory's tech isn't handwaved" AU. This was great! Funny and creative, and I'm both amazed and full of admiration for Fenes' ability to juggle so many characters.

I was feeling excited and ambitious with this one. Tried some new fun things (double core endbands, painted edges) and used some new equipment (a lying press).

The Text

TITLE/HEADINGS FONT: Azonix says 'SciFi' to me, it's a bold, non-serif, sleek font.

BODY FONT: Mundo Serif, it's a decent serif body font I haven't used before. Felt like it worked with Azonix.

SCENE BREAKS: a special character in Segoe UI Symbol of a black & white icon of Earth, the globe showing Asia.

TYPESETTING: Finished typesetting the fic, left document open on my laptop, laptop's battery failed, file now crashes immediately upon reopening, issue persists with copied versions of file (；￣Д￣) . Thankfully I had a backup file for the typeset with the barebones of the text, so I didn't have to restart from scratch...

Title Page

My thinking: it takes place in space, the world's at stake, and it's the dawn of a new horizon for Earth. Glory and the titular champions are represented by Swoksaar, Desert Dust, Lord Grim, Vaccaria, and Cloud Piercer – the captains of what I'd call the 'big 5' teams. A circuitry board background element hints at the tech/mecha nature of the story's competition. It may not match Blurb's art, but I hope I was able to convey some of what the story is about.

The circuitry image is used as decoration throughout the book. I only used the avatars of the top five teams' captains because too many silhouettes would lessen their impact and readability. (Removing the backgrounds was tedious, but worth it.)

Here's what it should have looked like. The test prints for this and the BB art were fine, but I think my inkjet started running out of ink just when I printed the final copies and I didn't reprint them. (Too impatient, really wanted to finish up and read the book)

The Cover

World Champions is another Big Bang fic, and once again I based some of my design choices off of the accompanying artwork. The dominant colours of Blurb_brain's illustration are red and blue-green.

COVER PAPER: For the decorative cover material I used NASA's ASTER image of Poyang Lake. NASA has some really interesting photography some of which remind me of marbled paper, thought it could be interesting. I chose this image of Poyang Lake because 1) it's in China, 2) the colours were similar to Blurb's awesome illustration (fate strikes again, dropping matching images and artwork into my lap!), and 3) NASA is tangentially relevant to the fic, which takes place in space.

BOOKCLOTH: Verona bookcloth in the shade Black Pearl, a lovely dark navy blue colour. Thought it suited the cover paper and title page. (Bought it for this fic specifically, but the colour goes well with almost all of my decorative papers so it should see a lot of use in the future!)

Endpapers

The final decision that held this project at a standstill for two months. In the end I drew inspiration from the matchups against the final opponent in the story. The image I used is a little chaotic and a little too unrelated to identify why I picked it without an explanation, but this book is for me and I know why, so there. (Note that I played around with the colours and cropped the photo.)

Endpaper inspiration: the maps for the matches against the Infilhites

"a long bridge through an enormous tube-like hall, where light seem to come from every side through stained glass windows. It was visually confusing, limited lateral motion" "a warehouse, crates stacked on and beside metal racks that went all the way to the ceiling." "a house of mirrors, fully enclosed to be sure the Infhillte couldn’t fly out of it." "like a volcano, rivers of lava moving sluggishly down a slope, occasional vents of overheated air nearby." "a series of overlapping bridges between halls and stairways, level after level layered over an open abyss."

Trimming & Painting the Edges

Going all out, a 2-for1 deal: the opportunity to use my lying press for the first time and learn a new technique!

TRIMMING: Used a paring chisel and lying press.

CHISEL: The 1.25" wide paring chisel I used was form a modern manufacturer. (Vintage paring chisels are very thin, enough so that you can bend/flex the blade. But don't do that.) It's long and wide blade made it easier to register against the surface of the press for consistent cuts. Looks like this one below from Lee Valley.

LYING PRESS: My dad's project. Solid black walnut, hand carved screws and internal threads — he even made the tools to make the threads too! The jaws of the press are each 3 7/8" wide. It's big and heavy (though much smaller than full-sized professional ones omg), but there's enough of a flat surface to register the chisel against. A thicc boi, much like this one below from Bookbinding Supplies.

PAINTED EDGES: The idea was to have dark navy edges, speckled with white stars. I used acrylic from a tube to paint the edges — tutorials recommended it over liquid bottled acrylic, and I had an old set hanging around. Had to water it down because otherwise the paint just flaked off.

My test of trimming and painting went well. Then the trimmed book itself came out slightly crooked, the paint required significantly more watering-down than before, and the white paint did not want to be both opaque and speckle-able. Unfortunate, but still book-shaped! And now I have an idea of what to do differently next time.

Also, did not like the glow-in-the-dark paint. Looked too translucent in the light when compared to the white acrylic, and needed a thicker coat to be visible in the dark. (The thickness combined with the translucence and base colour kinda reminded me of boogers... Ended up scrapping most of it off, so there's not much left to glow.)

Endbands

Still in the mood to have fun and go all-out, I attempted double-core endbands for the first time.

TUTORIAL: YouTube @ BookbindersChronicle: Bookbinding 101 Sewing Headbands Session 2. Also watched @ DAS Bookbinding's Double-Core Endband // Adventures in Bookbinding, but I personally found Chronicle's closeup video easier to follow.

I used embroidery floss from a 100pk of assorted colours off Amazon, wrapped around a core of 1.9mm leather cording from Michaels. I drew from Blurb_brain's art for the general colours, choosing a dark base, with red, blue-green, and gold. The specific shades were picked to go with the cover.

[audriel]

Ye Xiu's Smoking Habits

Ye Xiu is definitely an interesting character and protagonist. However, compared to most protagonists I found him the hardest to read, and at times I am unsure of his characterization, especially when I write him in my stories. One of the most notable trait he has is that he smokes, a lot. Even if the character design changes (which you cannot believe how often it happens, TKA has the most variety, and not limited to one media too, i kid you not). This is one trait that makes him easily recognizable, packed together with his sleazy look and side-parted bangs (im laughing as i write this down). Since smoking is part of his personality, it can be used a way to understand him better. Here's what I found after going through all the mentions of smoke and cigarette in the webnovel (please note that i might miss or not include some).

Ye Xiu cannot smoke on less cigarette, otherwise his head will hurt (Ch9)

Ye Xiu smokes when he wants to maintain his focus, particularly when pulling an all-nighter or using multiple accounts (Ch10, Ch55, Ch87, Ch290, Ch431, Ch530)

Ye Xiu always smokes right after he wakes up (Ch22, Ch30)

Ye Xiu smokes when he's thinking (Ch34, Ch71) or working (Ch55) or relaxing/calming down (Ch57, Ch529, Ch637), or winding down after winning the championship (Ch1726)

Ye Xiu prioritises smoking over eating (only two meals a day), saving money for cigarettes (Ch47)

Ye Xiu's smoke addiction is quite heavy that it's instinctive for him to reach for cigarettes in any kind of situation (Ch55, Ch57, Ch94)

Ye Xiu was also struggling in the crowd. With great effort, he was able to free one hand. And inside his hand was shockingly a cigarette!!! “You’re going to smoke at this time!!!” Chen Guo saw Ye Xiu deliver the cigarette into his mouth and turned furious! What was this guy. -Ch94

Ye Xiu's smoke addiction is still better/less worse than Wei Chen (Ch617). He can consciously kills the urge if it's not allowed (Ch101, Ch1084)

Their seats were already fixed. Ye Xiu and Wei Chen were placed right underneath the strong ventilation fan. Chen Guo already regarded them as smoke machines. -Ch618

Ye Xiu can blow smoke rings (Ch179)

Ye Xiu smokes in front of Su Mucheng (Ch331), besides fellow smokers: Wei Chen and Chu Yunxiu

Ye Xiu and Wei Chen give each other cigarettes when one thinks the other needs it (Ch640, Ch693, Ch769, Ch967) He does the same with Chu Yunxiu (Ch1347)

Ye Xiu smokes so often that it's become part of his image even for common people (Ch1011)

The mysterious God Ye Qiu, who never appeared in public, wasn't as arrogant as most people thought he was. Everyday, with a cigarette in his mouth and smoke circling around him, he chatted with everyone at Club Excellent Era. -Ch1011

Ye Xiu smokes when he doesn't know what else to do in social settings, either to break the ice (Ch926) or to keep people away (Ch933)

He wasn’t shy with strangers at all. It even seemed like he was the host: "Have a seat, everyone. Why are you all standing!" Everyone sat down. Ye Xiu impatiently fished out a cigarette. He didn’t forget to ask if anyone else wanted one, but the five Heavenly Swords people waved their hands and refused. Ye Xiu didn’t ask if they didn’t want to smoke or if they didn’t know how. In any case, he grabbed a cigarette and tossed the cigarette pack onto the table: "If you guys want one, feel free to take one!" Then, he quickly started lighting up his cigarette. -Ch926 As for Ye Xiu and Tang Rou, the two stayed curled in a corner. Tang Rou had casually taken a glass of wine to sip at while Ye Xiu held a very deep ashtray, going through cigarette after cigarette and filling the air around them with smoke. Tang Rou was a radiant-looking lady, yet no one had come up to talk to her, all thanks to Ye Xiu. -Ch933

Ye Xiu smokes when he wants to suppress/hide his emotions (Ch23, Ch91, Ch96, Ch1361), particularly when he feels sad and/or helpless (Ch500, Ch620)

His back against the wall, he fished out a cigarette and lit it. “What are you doing? Are you going to cry too? Do you need some paper?” Behind him, Chen Guo seemed to sense it. “How could it be? How could I cry?” Ye Xiu turned his body and conveniently puffed out a mouthful of smoke towards Chen Guo’s face -Ch23 In the third round of the individual competition, Team Excellent Era lost again. The spectators in the Internet Cafe began to look sinister. Everyone felt extremely terrible in their hearts. Some cursed at 301, some sighed in disappointment at Team Excellent Era. Chen Guo wasn’t feeling good either. She didn’t know when, but looking to the side she saw that Ye Xiu had already left her side and stood outside the door to smoke. The cigarette butt glowed brightly in the dusky night, but the person’s expression was indistinct. -Ch91 Liu Hao was about to argue when Ye Xiu dully said: “Don’t be so noisy. You guys are also public figures. If you keep on being noisy, then you guys won’t look good.” After saying this, Ye Xiu quietly took out a cigarette from his pocked, lit it, and put it in his mouth. -Ch96

You….” Chen Guo noticed that Ye Xiu’s expression was odd even after achieving victory. Happiness? None at all. He even seemed a little sad….. Sad? Chen Guo shook her head. She must be seeing things, how could he be sad? As she was about to say something, Ye Xiu stood up abruptly, “I’m going out for a smoke.” -Ch500 "Excellent Era getting relegated is my fault.” Ye Xiu expressed with sorrow. He didn’t wait for Chen Guo to refute and immediately continued: “But how would I have known that wiping them out in game would turn out like this? No one would have imagined that such actions would have so severe a consequence? But you can’t deny their current record either. They’re still young. They still have chances. They shouldn’t give up so easily. I don’t know what they plan on doing in the future. Too much has been happening recently. I want to be by myself for a bit. If you don’t need me for anything, I’ll be leaving.” Ye Xiu took out a cigarette after speaking. -Ch620 “Who cares about that,” Chen Guo huffed. “I’m asking you about your feelings on Excellent Era’s return.” Ye Xiu felt out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep breath and nodded. “Pretty good.” -Ch1361

Also, for those with sharp eyes will notice that there's a significant decrease in the mention of smoking after chapter 1000+, matching the start of Professional League/GPA. This rather supports how serious (i remember using the word uncompromising, unyielding) Ye Xiu is when it comes to aiming for the championship (victory in general). Ye Xiu maintains his condition meticulously, going so far as reducing his cigarette intake, when he's a heavy smoker.

However, the most interesting discovery is that smoking is more than a habit for Ye Xiu, in some ways, it's a tool or a method(?) for him to keep him unreadable, to deal with his emotions, to hide his weakness. It's oft mentioned throughout the webnovel how difficult is to read Ye Xiu's expression, he rarely shows strong emotion. I don't think it's his natural disposition, but an ingrained habit either from his family upbringing or him raising himself and the Su siblings together while also leading a team. And when he goes out to smoke to deal with his feelings (as per the examples above), he tends to smoke alone. There's no mention of him having company when he does so. It leads me to conclude that for whatever reasons Ye Xiu believes emotions are not to be shown openly and to be dealt with alone.

This explains a lot really, why such conflict arises in Excellent Era. Ye Xiu remains unchanged throughout the years in his pursuit of victory and love and passion for Glory. However, people around him change, either they leave or their values differ. Ye Xiu with his skills and achievements, combined with his uncompromising attitude and unreadable expression, he becomes a distant, incomprehensible figure. It becomes easy to project their own feelings to him.

This is particularly highlighted when Excellent Era has an emergency meeting due to Ye Xiu for coming forward/no longer shying away from media attention. They all are afraid of what Ye Xiu will do, because they're putting themselves in Ye Xiu's shoes, and knowing what they've done, he has no reason to be kind. When in reality, Ye Xiu doesn't really care. He accepts the failure on his part. In the end, he treats his former club just like any other opponent, by letting action speak for itself. And they completely fail to understand this, their own God, their own captain for many years, which makes it so sad and tragic, because they never sees him as the person that he is.

[spaciebabie]

ohhh m y god i cant wait to be unemployed. i burnt myself out 2 the brink these past 2 years breah shoudlnt have done that

[adelphenium]

red-hot

[somie]

Hello 5 other tka fans I brought more food

[gloryproalliance]

QZGS Secret Santa 2024

Another year, another visit from Santa Ye Xiu~

Hello again, fellow Glory fans! Our Secret Santa 2024 event will soon begin. Please consider signing up if you want to bestow some Ye Xiu-approved gifts and submit the prompts of your dreams.

Secret Santa is low-stress and easy to follow. Drop your prompts and contact info when signups open and wait to be matched with another participant. Before you proceed, however, please consult our carrd, or Santa Ye Xiu will be putting you on the naughty list.

SCHEDULE:

Signups → November 4-15

Assignments + treat list → November 20

Submissions due → December 15

Pinch-hitting → December 15-24

Gift reveals → December 25

Secret Santa reveals → December 31

Here's to another glorious year! Happy holidays!

[kukuandkookie]

Happy birthday to Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu from the official Quan Zhi Gao Shou Weibo!!

I wanted to share this official art since I haven’t seen it posted on Tumblr yet, but also because the post noted the inclusion of cornflowers, meaning happiness and encounter, which I think is sweet. 🥺

[whenthegoldrays]

Every Park Eun-bin character I've seen has deserved the whole world