#wine terrace

[decadentindustries]

Front Yard Milwaukee Summertime inspiration for a medium-sized, traditional, fully-shaded front yard stone walkway.

[vampiricallyxspeaking]

Traditional Landscape - Front Yard Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional full sun front yard stone walkway in summer.

[rarasek]

Milwaukee Traditional Landscape Summertime inspiration for a medium-sized, traditional, fully-shaded front yard stone walkway.

[swashbucklerswan]

Natural Stone Pavers Front Yard

[mqslow]

Landscape - Walkway

[melankoliadam]

Landscape (Milwaukee)

[ihavedonenothingright]

I am definitely not the first person to joke about how many Shens there are in danmei, but it does strike me as very funny that out of the Seven Seas line up, we currently have 4-5 protagonists/love interests with the surname "Shen." And then that sparked a question... just how many Shens are there in danmei?

So here is my request. If you have a danmei Shen not included on this list, please reblog or comment with his name and book. The only requirements are that he has to be one of the leads, and his surname has to be Shen*. Extra data, such as the character used for his name, is also welcome. It is worth acknowledging that sometimes it may be unclear whether or not a character should be counted as a Shen; in that case, I will put it to a vote. Once we have all the necessary data, we can create the first (at least to my knowledge) comprehensive database of Shens.

*submissions with the given or courtesy names Shen will get an honorary mention.

...

List of Known Shens (as of posting):

Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System)

Shen Qiao (Thousand Autumns)

Shen Zechuan (Ballad of Sword and Wine)

Shen Wei (Guardian)

Shen Yu (The Silent Concubine)

Honorary Mentions:

Fu Shen from Golden Terrace.

Potentially Contested Inclusions:

Gu Yun/Shen Shiliu (Stars of Chaos)

[liverbiver9]

The more I read danmei in my monthly book club that I otherwise wouldn’t have read or even known about, the more it becomes painfully clear that most of the mdzs fandom (and possibly the other 2 mxtx fandoms but I’m not as well versed with them) have not interacted with the genre at large beyond mxtx, and it shows in the meta analysis people make (especially westerners).

And I am not excluding myself here! So much of my initial assumptions and interpretations of mdzs has changed after reading other danmei authors, especifically the less western-internet-popular ones.

My point is this: when reading a book from a culture that is not your own and in an unfamiliar genre, it will be impossible to grasp all the intricacies and subtleties nestled within the narrative and characterization until you’ve become more familiar with the culture and genre itself.

Don’t limit yourself to mxtx. There are more and more danmei being translated into English by publishing houses and even more are fan translated.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I have some recommendations!

1. Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai.

Literally one of my favorite books I’ve ever read in my life, and I’m an English major. It is only 2 books and both are already published, so you won’t have to wait. The most tender, loving relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. The translation is phenomenal, and it feels very similar to Jane Austen in its diction, plot, and characterization. I literally cannot explain with words how much I love this book.

2. To Rule in a Turbulent World by Gu Xue Rou

This series is just being translated and published, so it may take a while for the other books (I think 3-4?) will be out, but don’t let that scare you away! Without too much spoilers, the vibes of this first book reminds me of Harvest Moon games. Also a very sweet and tender main couple. Plus, this book is written by a male author!! Pretty rare in danmei, at least to my knowledge.

3. Thousand Autumns by Qian Qiu

Pretty dense with lots of philosophy, poetry references, and a more traditional wuxia world. This series is finished with 5 books in total. I had a hard time reading the first book, mostly because I didn’t connect that much with the mc at first, but I loved the world building and all the information I learned. I did eventually start connecting with the mc and ended the series fully besotted! Not a quick or easy read, but a worthwhile one.

4. Ballad of Sword and Wine by Tang Jiu Qing

The first book is out for this series, with the second being published later this month. It’s going to be a long one like tcgf, so it is a commitment read—but absolutely worth it!! Lots of palace politics and more Taoist-focused martial arts (think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). It is both fast and slow burn (I know that doesn’t make sense now; trust me, it will later on) and the main character is SO FASCINATING!! I want to study him like a bug. The overall characterization is phenomenal. The cast can be… intimidating, as there are a LOT of named characters, but they’re mostly there for world building (and the world building is fantastic!). Also, the translation here is GORGEOUS. You can tell it was translated by a writer, or at least someone who’s read the whole text (you’d be surprised…)—everything is so vivid!

[muqingapologist]

qjj is so confusing so far but i’ve been encouraged by this fight scene where shen zechuan bites the shit out of xiao chiye’s hand. get his ass!

[oh-wow-im-still-here]

Please do not pick option 4 im begging you--

[quotethatshow]

[izartn]

Read Golden Stage/Terrace and was left very meh. Not bad, not a subject of my devotion either. I prefer my stories either full on R Romantic or leaning towards the plot as in Qiang Jin Jiu, so although the story and charas were perfectly fine it was very much just an entertaining way to pass the time.

I was expecting... Less good behaviour from the protags honestly XD and not in terms of scheming; I liked how few fucks they gave towards a correct confucian behaviour lol. But it didn't felt like an enemies to lovers as it was sold, not even a rival to lovers. Lost opportunity to suddenly lovers fits. I liked that they almost had something as teens but Yan Xiaohan duty/role and Fu Shen relative immaturity at court games made that impossible. The Cui Yu incident as the memory Yan Xiaohan keeps to remind himself to not sink so low in the future was nice, as is the fact he is still pretty much amoral and doesn't have any loyalty to the emperor(s) except self-preservation.

In general I was very meh about Fu Shen and his fam, except his nephew and that throwaway line about how he remembers years later when he's in the throne that Yan Xiaohan once told him as a child that he only wanted FS and not the kingdom. I want to know more about that kid's life bc it sounds fascinating just from that smidge of info. He's assured as emperor despite the regency bc he knows that what his uncles want is each other more than the throne. Fascinating.

As I was saying; Yan Xiaohan on the other hand? Bastard son of an emperor with a concubine of that emp's father, raised in a temple for retired court women by a nun and a eunuch, who taught all he needed to make a life for himself and success on the court? Super interesting. And we don't know anything about their relationship except that his adoptive father made him swear to not marry a women and have children so as to not challenge any the ruling line (bc the emperor knew Xiaohan was his son). Like.

Of course I prefer Xiaohan XD

But anyways just a light read in comparison with other danmei and a dynamic that just isn't my kind of visceral romance, desire being very good for each other. Also the wonkers pseudo democracy too. That was weird XD good weird but like. Very much pfft at times. That Fu Shen is all on board bc he's just, so so tired of incompetent bosses, essentially, and also very much dislikes authority is funny too.

Anyways these are my thoughts. Worth giving it a read if you are interested by the premise (I usually despise forced marriage, except when done as in very all we here adults as in Golden Stage or full on going this is fucked up and not endgame so that's one thing it does well) but not my cup of tea.

SPOILERS QIANG JIN JIU

I'm still thinking of Xiao Chiye and Shen Zechuan. And there's no comparison with this novel sorry not sorry. Really liked Ce'an, bc he feels very... realistic as a warlord and also just fantasy enough for the story and romance to work? Both he and Shen Zechuan do. I really liked the way they're attracted to each other at the start despite the antagonism (genuine antagonism!!! their first time is genuine hate sex despite the attraction and burgeoning fondness) and the plotting bc they recognize on each other a yearning from freedom and to be themselves. Then they end the story chained in Qudu by their own volition and by love and mmm. Thematically tasty.

[beautifulfrenchhouses]

525,000 €

140 m² / 1507 ft²

Le Barroux, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

[weatherquest]

rearranged all my calico critters to make room for new stuff :Þ

[waterdhaviancheesecake]

thinking about Ed Greenwood's videos and various articles about Waterdeep and its culture and I just think Gale is the perfect Waterdhavian. Everything about their social culture is there. The way he doesn't seem to have any preconceived notions based on race or background or social class. The way if you insult him his instinct is to say "hey friend I didn't really like that." rather than get aggressive. The way he gets a parasite lodged in his eye socket, meets a bhaalspawn, sees horrible things along his journey and is like "gosh." because years of living in the Gotham of Faerûn has desensitized him to this shit.

[alteredstatesstuff]

life in new york