straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2026-06-18 06:44 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2026-06-18 06:44 pm
Entry tags:
buying books in languages I can't read + bingqiu have a cat now!!
This is a callout post for one of my worst habits, namely, buying editions of Scum Villains in languages that I can’t read. I was looking at my personal library tracking spreadsheet yesterday evening, and discovered that I own fifteen volumes of Scum Villain across four different languages. Over the weekend, I found this wiki page listing all the different official releases Scum Villain has had globally, and this was arguably a dangerous discovery, as it led to my almost immediately purchasing a version I hadn’t been aware of before then (the 2022 traditional Chinese rerelease)… and eyeing another one I really want (2025 simplified Chinese version)… or maybe more than one asdfghjkl;
But I’m also really excited about getting my hands on the 2022 version! I looked it up on eBay on the same day, and found that someone in my country was auctioning it off for a reasonable price—with the auction ending the next day (Sunday). I set a timer, stalked it very closely, set a truly ridiculous maximum high bid… but no one else bidded on it, so I got it for that reasonable price after all! It’s actually already arrived (yesterday, which is why I was looking at my spreadsheet in the first place… had to log my new acquisition, after all!), and I’m so pleased with it. It’s so pretty!
And, vitally, it was also the “deluxe edition”, according to the ebay listing, which means that it came with a little box of merch—postcards and mini file folders and the like. This is what I was the most excited about, because that makes it so much easier to display the, quite frankly, gorgeous art and character designs from this version!
One of the things included was this plastic block-type thing (idk what it’s actually supposed to be) that had this image on it, and—omg. The cat. THE CAT. This is now canon in my heart. Post-canon Bingqiu ABSOLUTELY get a cute little orange cat as a pet at some point, and absolutely no one can tell me otherwise, lol.
In case anyone is curious (and also for my own future reference), this is the complete list of Scum Villain volumes that I currently own:
- the original English paperback release (4 volumes)
- the hardcover English special edition release (4 volumes)
- the entirety of the Thai translation (3 volumes)
- the first volume of the French translation, in hardcover (1 volume)
- and now, the 2022 traditional Chinese rerelease (3 volumes)
I am not usually the type of person to buy books that I can’t read, to be clear. I like having a big library, and I’m always happy to expand on it—but only with books that I think are genuinely worth keeping. If a book doesn’t serve a purpose in my home, I have no problems with getting rid of it. After all, there’s no point to a big library if it’s not also filled with books that I want to and can read/reread! However…. Scum Villain…. my greatest weakness….
tbh, this is all the Thai translation’s fault. Specifically, those absolutely stunning character designs. I live in perpetual suffering because pretty much every version of Scum Villain except the English version has great character designs*, sobsobsob, but the Thai designs are hands-down my favorites, especially Thai Binghe. That is the Binghe who exists in my head, at least when we’re talking about his adult self, and while I appreciate the other versionsexcept not the English version, ultimately the Thai design will always reign supreme in my heart, to the extent that bingqiu fanart based on the Thai designs have actually been my phone’s background since 2019.
* (okay, to be fair—I don’t dislike all of the English version’s art. For instance, I adore the LQG design! But I do have a very complicated relationship with it, particularly in regards to how it’s influenced fanon in Scum Villain fic, both in regards to things that straight-up contradict the actual text of the novel or that make additions that didn't exist in the text and which I'm personally not a fan of.)
Anyways. Somehow, in June 2024, this intense fondness for the Thai version’s art led to me looking it up on eBay, and discovering—similar to last weekend—that there was someone in my country selling off all three volumes at a reasonable price. And before I knew it, somehow my finger had clicked the buy now button…
No regrets, tbh. I might not be able to read it, but the number of times I’ve picked up one of the volumes from my shelf so that I could sigh in admiration of how pretty it is fully makes it worth it. I no longer have room on that shelf to display any forward-facing booksbecause I bought like seven more volumes of Scum Villain since then asdfghjkl;, but back when I did, it was always a volume of the Thai translation that I displayed, usually the second volume.
Honestly, the most important part of this entry (and the reason why I started writing this in the first place) is, in fact, Bingqiu and the orange cat that they absolutely now have, with the rest just being my own self-indulgent rambling.
But I’m also really excited about getting my hands on the 2022 version! I looked it up on eBay on the same day, and found that someone in my country was auctioning it off for a reasonable price—with the auction ending the next day (Sunday). I set a timer, stalked it very closely, set a truly ridiculous maximum high bid… but no one else bidded on it, so I got it for that reasonable price after all! It’s actually already arrived (yesterday, which is why I was looking at my spreadsheet in the first place… had to log my new acquisition, after all!), and I’m so pleased with it. It’s so pretty!
And, vitally, it was also the “deluxe edition”, according to the ebay listing, which means that it came with a little box of merch—postcards and mini file folders and the like. This is what I was the most excited about, because that makes it so much easier to display the, quite frankly, gorgeous art and character designs from this version!
One of the things included was this plastic block-type thing (idk what it’s actually supposed to be) that had this image on it, and—omg. The cat. THE CAT. This is now canon in my heart. Post-canon Bingqiu ABSOLUTELY get a cute little orange cat as a pet at some point, and absolutely no one can tell me otherwise, lol.
In case anyone is curious (and also for my own future reference), this is the complete list of Scum Villain volumes that I currently own:
- the original English paperback release (4 volumes)
- the hardcover English special edition release (4 volumes)
- the entirety of the Thai translation (3 volumes)
- the first volume of the French translation, in hardcover (1 volume)
- and now, the 2022 traditional Chinese rerelease (3 volumes)
I am not usually the type of person to buy books that I can’t read, to be clear. I like having a big library, and I’m always happy to expand on it—but only with books that I think are genuinely worth keeping. If a book doesn’t serve a purpose in my home, I have no problems with getting rid of it. After all, there’s no point to a big library if it’s not also filled with books that I want to and can read/reread! However…. Scum Villain…. my greatest weakness….
tbh, this is all the Thai translation’s fault. Specifically, those absolutely stunning character designs. I live in perpetual suffering because pretty much every version of Scum Villain except the English version has great character designs*, sobsobsob, but the Thai designs are hands-down my favorites, especially Thai Binghe. That is the Binghe who exists in my head, at least when we’re talking about his adult self, and while I appreciate the other versions
* (okay, to be fair—I don’t dislike all of the English version’s art. For instance, I adore the LQG design! But I do have a very complicated relationship with it, particularly in regards to how it’s influenced fanon in Scum Villain fic, both in regards to things that straight-up contradict the actual text of the novel or that make additions that didn't exist in the text and which I'm personally not a fan of.)
Anyways. Somehow, in June 2024, this intense fondness for the Thai version’s art led to me looking it up on eBay, and discovering—similar to last weekend—that there was someone in my country selling off all three volumes at a reasonable price. And before I knew it, somehow my finger had clicked the buy now button…
No regrets, tbh. I might not be able to read it, but the number of times I’ve picked up one of the volumes from my shelf so that I could sigh in admiration of how pretty it is fully makes it worth it. I no longer have room on that shelf to display any forward-facing books
Honestly, the most important part of this entry (and the reason why I started writing this in the first place) is, in fact, Bingqiu and the orange cat that they absolutely now have, with the rest just being my own self-indulgent rambling.
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