#webnovel recs

[jasontoddiefor]

why you should read Turning aka please check out my new hyperfixation

[dyinggirldied]

This might be a dumb question, please don't throw rocks at me, but is there a novel similar to TCF, ORV and TSTIR but the MC is female instead?

I guess the criteria is: epic fantasy-action, loveable self-sacrificial but cunning and unhinged MC loved by everyone, very little to no romance and of course misunderstanding trope sprinkled in.

There are cool and badass female characters in each of the works I mentioned above but I would like an older woman protagonist (who also acts her age and because we need more older women in webnovels) who fucks thing up in the name of money and peaceful retirement BUT is also caring and kind to their close ones.

The closest example I have come is Katarina Claes but her franchise is more slice-of-life and romance (yah for the bisexual harem though).

Another friend of mine recommend Roxanna from Protecting The Female Lead's Older Brother but I haven't read it and so far, the romance content seems heavy. Still, i would try it once I have free time. For the gorgeous art mostly.

So if any kind souls here have any particular novels that fit these criterias, don't hesitate to let know. Or if it's a niche works that you have been itching to let loose that fit 3/4 or half of the criterias, I would not mind.

EDIT 12/6/2024: I'm flooded and thankful for the replies, which is more than I expected but for now, my list is pretty long and I don't want to overwhelm the chat so, if there are no response, just know that I'm checking when I can. Thanks again for all the good samaritans ❤️

[aspiringjester]

out of all the possible configurations of binghe and shen qingqiu i think my favorite has to be bing(ge)yuan bc yes yes something about bingge being denied the kind shizun that bingmei has and literally crossing universes to find his own is all pretty and stuff

...BUT mostly becuase there's no fucking way mr peerless cucumber himself shen yuan doesn't see what appears to be luo binghe, assumes he's a cosplayer (logical??) and absolutely RIP this stranger to SHREDS over the "inaccuaracies" of his "costume" and leave bingge in a mix of "how DARE you" and "his sickly demeanor and bitchy attitude have captivated me"

and honestly it's the funniest thing in the world to me

[the-feathered-dragon-hoard]

“… How much time has passed since my brother died?”

The man opened his mouth obediently, looking at me strangely.

“… About 2 years? [...]

“Let’s assume I have amnesia and explain in detail. What happened to me and Han Yoohyun after he died?”

“Of course, not only Haeyeon but the entire country was turned upside down. Haeyeon’s guild leader was the strongest hunter protecting Korea. But because of one F-rank… damn it.” [...] “They even talked about executing him, but in fact, Han Yoojin didn’t kill him on purpose." [...]

“So what happened?”

“… I heard he almost went crazy because he had a guilty conscience, but for some reason, the Seseong Guild took responsibility and said they would banish him from Korea. After he left, no one has heard from him.”

“Seseong? Oh, right.”

That must be Sung Hyunjae. It must have been a pretty good opportunity for him. He could now completely get his hands on the foster parent who had lost the foster parent. Even.

‘… If Yoohyun had died saving me, I would have gotten the title.’

I would have also gotten the title of Perfect Foster Parent here. I also got the Dragon Slayer as a bonus, so it was a hand that even the talented Sung Hyunjae couldn’t let go of.

— The S-Classes That I Raised, Side Story 119 A Story Of The Future (1)

[ilaalexei]

I started a sideblog to scream about the webnovels I have read and loved! I’m still considering the name so it may change ^^;; 

Mostly I want to share some of the ones I don’t see talked about and why I love them. 

Materpost of Recs

Completed Reading Recs

★★★★★ Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate - Little Baldy

★★★★★ Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me - Qing Duan

★★★★★ His Little Deer Wife is Very Fierce - Little Baldy

★★★★★ How to Survive As a Villain - Yi Yi Yi Yi

★★★★★ Silent Reading - Priest

★★★★★ The General’s Vampire Omega - Little Baldy

★★★★★ The Last Dragon in the Cultivation World - Marshmallow Bunny

★★★★★ The Virtuous Omega Disguised as the Vicious Colonel - Little Baldy

★★★★★ Where is Our Agreement to be Each Other’s Arch-Rivals? - Poplar Breeze

★★★★½ Non-Human Sub-district Office - Drunk Long Song

★★★★½ Peerless Immortal Surrounded by Demonic Disciples - Dao Xuan

★★★★½ Record of the Missing Sect Master - A Lifetime Of Beautiful Clothes

★★★★½ The Whole World Is My Crematorium - 比卡比

★★★★½ They All Say I’ve Met a Ghost - Cyan Wings

★★★★ A Real Man Isn’t Afraid of a Little Demon - Little Baldy

★★★★ My Junior Still Hasn’t Killed Me - Zi Lu

★★★★ Something's Not Right - Cyan Wings

★★★★ Today Prime Minister Also Wants to Bang His Head on the Pillar - Bazaodashe

★★★½ It’s Not Easy Being a Master - Jin Xi Gu Nian

★★★½ The Omega Can’t Pretend to Be a Beta After Accidentally Witnessing the Major General’s Susceptible Period - Fei Tang

★★★½ Worship Me, I Can Make You Rich - 向远飞

★★★ The General Loves to Collect Little Red Flowers - Kun Cheng Xiong Mao

More Completed Reading Recs (but these ones are more fluff than plot)

♥♥♥♥♥ A Guide to Raising Your Natural Enemy - Jue Jue

♥♥♥♥♥ Transmigrated As a Villain, I Rely on Sand Sculpture to Survive - Ma Hu Zi Jun

♥♥♥♥ After Being Turned Into a Dog, I Conned My Way Into Freeloading at My Rival’s Place - Zi Jin

♥♥♥♥ Number One Lazy Merchant of the Beast World - Shuishan

♥♥♥♥ The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish - Fat Snow Mountain Fox

♥♥♥♥ Transmigrated as the Villain’s Cat - Xishan Fish

♥♥♥½ Do You Want to Touch My Fish Tail? - 系辭��

♥♥♥½ Live Broadcasting Raising Dragons in the Interstellar - Yu Zhi Shui

♥♥♥½ My Vampire Faints at Blood - Three Thousand Big Dreams To Narrate One's Life

♥♥♥½ The Film Emperor’s Daily Live Cooking Broadcast - 砚楚

Currently Reading

After Entering a Book, He Just Wants to be a Flower Vase - Poplar Breeze (ongoing translation)

Dinghai Fusheng Records - Fei Tian Ye Xiang

Mistakenly Saving the Villain - Feng Yu Nie

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint - Sing Shong

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

This Omega is Fierce and Wild - Poplar Breeze (ongoing translation)

Want to Read (cause I watched the adaptation)

Faraway Wanderers - Priest

Guardian - Priest

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Heaven Official’s Blessing - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Thousand Autumns - Meng Xi Shi

Tianbao Fuyao Lu - Fei Tian Ye Xiang

(and so so so many more!)

Completed Reading (Not Rec'd)

Delicious Food Got Me Famous Across the Galaxy - Wa Lun Ding

He Lifted My Red Veil - Zi Jin

Let Me Tease You - Qing Duan

Let’s Talk About That Guy Who Transmigrated to Pursue Me - Mo Xiao Xian

Peach Blossom Debt - Da Feng Gua Guo

Dropped

The People Who’re Supposed To Kill Me Fell For Me Instead - Jiu Yi

You’ve Got Mail: A Cautionary Tale - Hei Dan Bai

((this post will be updated as I continue reading and if I write any reviews about specific series I'll link them here too))

[canthandlethishit]

me: this is the best fic ive read of modern au of my blorbos i want moree!!

author:

rec: fic is orv dating show + childhood friends got separated au, joongdok, very good writing pacing and their past is slowly revealed so its very intriguing

link

edit: rain of thanks to @einsleyreinhardt and @hawkebop for dropping the author’s name: threecrossings on ao3

[grassbreads]

What Tai Sui is and Why Everyone Should Read It

So if you follow me, over the past couple weeks, you've probably noticed me obsessively screenshotting and posting about a book called Tai Sui. And now that I've finished it, I'd like to try and convince y'all to give it a chance.

What Is Tai Sui?

Tai Sui is a chinese web novel—a relatively unpopular work by the very popular author Priest (author of Guardian and Sha Po Lang, among others). Unlike a lot of the most popular web novels on tumblr, it's not a danmei. It's in fact rather important to the plot and themes that there is almost entirely no romance, but I promise you, it is absolutely worth it regardless.

What is Tai Sui About?

Tai Sui is a steampunk xianxia cultivation story. For those unfamiliar with xianxia and cultivation, this is a particular genre of Chinese historical fantasy.

The official summary of Tai Sui reads as follows:

“If I had a choice, I would only want to be a little insect in the mundane dust, born in confusion, dying in mediocrity, never seeing the light of day beneath the fog of Jinping City.

Better than taking this wrong road to heaven.”

You may have noticed that this summary is not in fact really a summary. It gives you a glimpse into the story's themes, mood, and destination, but it doesn't exactly tell you what happens in it.

That's because Tai Sui is one of those works that's incredibly hard to summarize. The story is incredibly wide in scope and changes massively over its course, to the point that any summary that encapsulates the whole thing is going to feel like a spoiler. However, I can try my best to add a little detail without giving too much away.

Tai Sui is the story of Xi Ping—an obnoxious, trouble-making rich boy with no interest in cultivation—who gets unwittingly involved in a plot to resurrect the "evil god" Tai Sui. This plot pulls him into the cultivation world against his will and, over time, threatens to rewrite everything he is.

Tai Sui is the end of immortality.

Why Should You Read Tai Sui?

Tai Sui is one of the most compelling stories I have ever read. It is a love letter to the power and promise of the whole world and its many mundane people. It also has some of the best worldbuilding I have ever seen.

Tai Sui is written in omniscient perspective, and though Xi Ping is very much the main character, as the story progresses, we spend more and more time alongside characters that aren't him. By the time the novel ends, his entire continent is at stake, and we the audience know that continent and its troubles inside and out from countless angles. Everyone from the immortal demigods of the cultivation world to the most wretched, miserable paupers is given a grand sense of emphasis.

Tai Sui is a deconstruction of the cultivation genre. It establishes a magic/cultivation system and its history, lets the main character live in that system for a while, and then dives deep into that system's depths. It looks at the cultivation genre, at the idea of people who leave behind their status as mortals for greater things, and asks "How does this really work?" and "Is this how the world should be?"

Tai Sui is the story of countless people who were never supposed to be powerful coming together to make the world a better place. It's well written (and very well translated), exciting, heartbreaking, and incredibly beautiful. It's also funny as hell.

I cannot recommend this story enough.

Warnings/Caveats

As I said before, Tai Sui is a deconstruction of the cultivation genre. If you're unfamiliar with this genre, while the book is certainly readable, you are going to be thrown head first into the deep end with the tropes and terminology at play. It's absolutely worth the learning curve, but it will be kind of a lot. Maybe do some light googling about what a cultivator is before you pick it up. (Or just ask a fan. I think most of us would happily explain anything that would win a new reader).

There are portrayals of people/cultures in Tai Sui that are heavily inspired by minority cultures in real-world China, and some of these portrayals play into pretty harmful stereotypes. It's not SPL "Barbarian" or TGCF Banyue levels of racist, but it's something to be aware of and careful about. I'd really recommend reading from the perspectives of those from the cultures in question (including but not limited to the post I linked) for more about the issues I'm talking about.

Tai Sui's English translation is 930,000 words long. I believe this is a strength, since its length is what allows it such an incredible scope. It is also a fucking daunting commitment, and I acknowledge that.

Finally, while Tai Sui doesn't need too many trigger warnings, it does contain some pretty viscerally upsetting depictions of inequality and mistreatment, as well as a few instances of violence toward children. You can't uplift without first seeing what the people need uplifting from, and hooboy. They need it.

There's also some scenes that are technically rather violent, but the goriness is not presented as gore, if that makes sense. It never feels intensely or overly violent in the way some fantasy novels do.

Links

If all my gushing and propagandizing has convinced you to give it a try, you can find the original Chinese version (where you can buy chapters to support the author) on JJWXC.

The complete English translation is free on the website of E. Danglars, who does a truly incredible job with the translating.

Happy reading :).

[chososhoeso2]

This morning I realized that I have a type when it comes to web novels. Bc three of my favs that I read recently all have the following in common:

1. Webtoon adapted from a novel which I promptly binged after spending an assload of coins to get caught up on Webtoon.

2. MC that was abused growing up

3. MC escapes their old life somehow

4. In their new life they immediately meet an EXTREMELY handsome, dark haired, brooding man who's dangerous

5. The MC already knew of this man's cold, calculating, apathetic exterior but doesn't know that the man is actually very soft and caring on the inside but has been jaded due to trauma

6. MC ends up spending all their time with this man and ends up falling in love with him even tho this was not part of their plan

7. The man also falls in love with the MC but the MC doesn't actually believe it to be love and believes it to be either out of obligation or for appearances

8. The MC doesn't value their life at all and is willing to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones (including the handsome man) at the drop of a hat

9. MC somehow ends up going away - either by choice or by force

10. Hot man goes to the end of the earth to bring them back

11. Confrontation of true feelings

[emrowene]

Read Free Now: FRACTURED MAGIC

Do you like gay fantasy books? How about angsty antiheros with charming facades and dark powers they can't control? Have you, at any point, found yourself lusting after Astarion from Baldur's Gate III? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may like Fractured Magic!

Fractured Magic is a penny dreadful for the modern reader! A thrilling tale for the masses! Read all about a fallen hero's hunt for redemption and an elven lordlings' quest to rescue his kidnapped King. The two estranged best friends are racing against time - and long-lost gods - to achieve their goals. Will they make up and work together before it's too late?

Fractured Magic is a queer fantasy webserial. New chapters are published free on substack and at emrowene.com every Monday. Subscribe on substack and have new chapters delivered directly to your email inbox.

[soulstar177]

Incredibly happy to see people translating the next work of Sinnoa, writer of SSS class suicide hunter. If you’ve ever wanted an apocalypse time loop story which focuses more on human connection and mental health management you should try out Tales of an Infinite Regressor (I hope this is the name that sticks). The story format consists of main character telling often stories of various instances of things that happened or during his regressions. Stories span from the absurd (running a convenience store in the apocalypse) to the emotional (the first story about old man Scho and his wife hit me in the feels). There’s already been a part which touched on disability and infrastructure which are topics that I think most apocalypse stories should discuss. Tales of an Infinite Regressor also plays around with the tropes of most regression stories too, with fun twists on the truck that sends you to another world, the character who has been given foreknowledge in the form of reading a novel which talks of the future, and so on. Overall, pls pls pls check it out and message me about it thanks lol.

[jasontoddiefor]

Anyone got some BL dungeon/hunters webnovel or webcomic recs? Gonna start a list please add I’m starved for content

Necromancer Survival

Traces of the Sun/Trace of Wonder

[dyinggirldied]

Reading Children of The Holy Emperor and someone commented that this is a book where everyone is a main character in their own rights (and power) and they are so right 🤣

[llycaons]

tried to ask my mom for book recs but she told me she mostly reads gay men fiction these days and 'some of it it quite graphic!' and then she gave me the names of some authors. okay mom

[jafndaegur]

Writing WIP Wednesday

Please don't actually be a bandit I’m saving, she begged before inhaling deeply and shouting, “Inbound, duck for cover!”

Thankfully, the blond man dove to the ground and Fabrian wasted not a second launching the malt bottle over the carriage. It shattered and hit the ground in front of the horsemen, causing the horses to rear up in shrieking fright. Four of the riders were cast to the ground as their mounts fled from the scene. The other two riders skittered back, attempting to calm their horses. Fire pooled along the ground, licking along the ground ravenously.

Fabrian jumped through the flames, wielding the stave like a bat. The end-socket filled with rocks collided with the first person she met. A sickening crunch broke the air as it collided with the rider's skull. They fell to the ground like a doll, body folding at weird angles.

She rushed to the next person before they could grab their lance, sweeping the staff at their legs as they reached to grapple with her. When they tumbled to the ground, she swung the stave down, breaking their nose in and collapsing the front of their face.

Before she could do any further damage, the back of her cloak was grabbed and she was yanked away. Her body seized up in panic before she forced out a yell and swung the stave around. It was knocked from her grip by the blade of a spear, forcing her to the ground. Her body thrummed with pain when she felt a hook tear through her shoulder, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from screaming out or biting her tongue. The bandit who injured her seemed pleased, while a second one braced himself to spear her through. A sudden shout caught them off guard, and the blond man from before tore his sword through the lance in her shoulder.

Read the full chapter on Tapas ⬇️!

RaNQ, Chapter 8: No Time to Step Back

[danmeiarchive]

The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish by Xue Shan Fei Hu -- a brief review (VAGUE spoilers under the cut)

Novel length: 156 chapters

My Rating: ♥♥♥♥½ / 5

This novel is a fun silly romp with plenty of face-slapping and courtroom drama. Overall, this is a fun one and while I enjoyed it very much it is perhaps not one for everyone. Our main character is pretty OP and seemingly able to overcome any and all trials with his powers of being a CUTE MAGIC FISH.

Content warnings and some VAGUE SPOILERS in regard to the disability and representation under the cut.

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What kind of story is The Disabled Tyrant's Pet Palm Fish?

DTPPF is a transmigration story. So anticipate all sorts of transmigration shenanigans and tropes. It's also a story that is clearly meant for fun and not to be taken seriously. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't have heart -- there were a few times I teared up and cried as I got hit right in the feels. This is also a story with mpreg -- something that I hadn't anticipated just from the title and synopsis.

(If you are worried about the mpreg just know that it is vaguely referenced and kinda handwaved in a 'it just works' way. The novel does not go into the how or physiology. It just happens.)

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What about the disability? The tyrant is mute -- and there are some genuine moments of how he struggles with it. There's even a couple moments when he sort of uses his muteness to his advantage. It is an integral part of his character as it has changed how others treat and perceive him. It also affects his life in the imperial palace and his right of inheritance as one of the emperor's sons. It does not feel like an afterthought. That being said please check below the cut to see some more of my thoughts on this matter.

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Overall while this story does have a good amount of courtroom intrigue, drama, and backstabbing I'm still left feeling that it's a fairly lighthearted and fluffy story. I think this is mostly due to how seemingly easily and consistently our main character and his love interest are able to solve the problems they run into. It was also terribly endearing as the reader to see the tyrant falling desperately in love and just wanting to tell the main character that he is loved and that he accepts him no matter what kind of creature he is.

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Who are the main characters?

Without going into details here's a little bit about our main squad:

Li Yu aka Xiao Yu - the main character of our tale, he is a modern young man transmigrated into a webnovel he had been reading... but as the protagonist's fish! He is tasked with helping the tyrant but how can he help when he is but a small fish? He gets creative and gains some special abilities that allow him to help cause chaos and help the tyrant before eventually he is able to regain his human form for a certain amount of time. (He is referred to as "Xiao Yu" at first by the tyrant as he is a "small fish" (xiao = small, yu = fish.))

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Mu Tianchi aka Jing Wang - the protagonist of the novel Li Yu had been reading. His name is Mu Tianchi but is often referred to by his title "Jing Wang" especially at the beginning of the novel. He is said to have been born mute and as such he is not considered as a viable heir to the throne. This does keep him out of some courtroom drama but certainly not all of it. As the other brothers are fighting, scheming, and taking each other out Mu Tianchi does continue to prove to be very capable and difficult to manipulate. He also goes above and beyond when it comes to spoiling both "Xiao Yu" (the fish) and Li Yu (his human form).

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Wang Xi - protagonist's eunuch / advisor / assistant / caretaker. He's incredible and deserves so many props. He would do anything to help Mu Tianchi and Li Yu. I don't have much to say about him other than I don't know what Mu Tianchi and Li Yu would have done if Wang Xi had turned against them.

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Chu Yanyu - the original love interest of the tyrant in the novel. I won't spoil things but I will say I wanted to yeet this character every time he showed up. Just when you think you've seen the last of him he. keeps. showing. up.

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What is the plot of The Disabled Tyrant's Pet Palm Fish?

The plot of The Disabled Tyrant's Pet Palm Fish follows Li Yu's journey on regaining his human form, helping prevent certain events he knows about from the novel, uncovering the conspiracies and mysteries from Mu Tianchi's past, and securing Mu Tianchi's place as crown prince. Meanwhile Mu Tianchi and Li Yu fall in love with each other of course.

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Small critiques

I've only read this title once (so far) but unlike Silent Reading and Heaven Official's Blessing, I feel like DTPPF doesn't really have clear arcs in terms of where one book would end and the next would start -- I will be curious to see how Seven Seas splits this one up into volumes.

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There are some characters that never get names. This is not the only webnovel I've read where this happens but every time it happens I'm a little disappointed. Like, on one hand it can be hard to keep track of a ton of characters and their names but... it also is just so weird to me whenever a character continues to show up but is only referred to as "the scarred man" or in the case of this novel "the princess of JinJue." She's a pretty great character but she never got a name!

I do hope that when Seven Seas releases their translation that they will include a character list like they have in other books to help keep track of everyone. Because when the emperor's sons are mentioned sometimes it's by their birth order or title and sometimes it's by name. And of course they all have similar names (they even share a generation name -- Mu TianZhao, Mu TianMing, Mu TianChi, Mu TianXiao, etc).

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Click 'keep reading' to see more on the disability (VAGUE SPOILERS) and trigger warnings.

Disability representation in the novel

Without going into the HOW and WHY I feel it is important to mention that Mu Tianchi's disability is CURED pretty late in the novel. While I did find the outcome touching (when the main character hears the tyrant's first words and how the tyrant feels upon finally being able to speak) I think that this could be a touchy subject. I think that the novel could have not had the tyrant be cured and I would have enjoyed it just as much. And I imagine that if you're a person with a disability and or chronic illness that is reading a story where a main character struggles with his own -- only to end up magically and conveniently cured of his disability -- that it could be frustrating.

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There is also discrimination against Mu Tianchi for his disability -- he isn't considered a viable heir for the throne because he is mute, even if he is the best choice. Also since he has this disability the other characters (and the tyrant himself) worry that his children would also be disabled.

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content warnings: there's several times when jokes are made about bestiality (and a couple characters assume that Mu Tianchi's feelings towards his fish are not strictly platonic).

There is also various attempts of harm towards young children that might inherit the throne including poison, kidnapping, and threat of physical harm. Similarly, there are attempts at drugging (with aphrodisiacs, getting someone overly drunk, etc) and dubious consent situations -- (however this does not occur between our main couple). This is done in hopes of earning someone's favor, forcing them to take responsibility, and or moving up in rank and society.

There is also a character that was taken as a concubine (against her will) after her kingdom was defeated in war. All of this seems fairly standard to courtroom drama stories but I figured it would be good to mention. If you've also read this novel and think I've left some cw out let me know and I'll add them to this list.

Another user pointed out that the character of the JinJue princess is 16-- so there's some setting compliant marriages / relationships with folks who are under 18 years old. I would be surprised if she was the only character this applied to but I can't remember others right at this moment.

[vivi-acantha]

Hey yall!!!

Does anyone have any good recommendations for queer comics (either ones that update regularly or don’t, idm!), webcomics, graphic novels, or mangas?

I’m interested in fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, dystopian/apocalypse, and historical, but I don’t mind other genres either!

I have read:

Heart stopper

The girl from the sea

Nobody’s dog

Witch boy

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy

Laura Dean keeps breaking up with me

NIMONA

And more that I can’t list rn

Thanks so much!