straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2019-02-16 09:53 am
straightforwardly) wrote2019-02-16 09:53 am
Entry tags:
- books: 1/2 prince,
- books: dominion's end,
- books: i ship my adversary x me,
- books: legend of the sun knight,
- books: mdzs,
- books: scum villain,
- books: transmigrator meets reincarnator,
- books: who dares slander my shixiong,
- fandom: exchanges: chocolatebox,
- fandom: fests: be the first,
- interests: light novels/web novels,
- sharing: fic recs
206 | Chocolate Box 2019 & many cnovels
► It’s been nearly a month since I last updated, whoops. Since then, I (finally!) broke 100K on AO3! It definitely took me long enough. ...It would be nice if I could hit 150K this year too.
► The Chocolate Box Collection is open! I didn’t sign-up this year, but I did treat, and I think that was the right choice to make. I don’t think I’m going to make a Proper Rec List this year, for various reasons, but have a few quick, initial recs of some of my absolute favorites. I’m definitely not finished with the collection yet; this is just from what I’ve seen so far.
► I’ve read so many cnovels (if you interpret the “c” as meaning “Chinese-language”—some are actually Taiwanese) over the last two months. So many. ._. If I try to give my in-depth thoughts on all of them, I will never finish this update, so have some quick thoughts/impressions instead.
The Legend of the Sun Knight - To put it succinctly: I’ve read the whole series twice now, read Volume 5 in particular three times, and am planning on yet another reread for fic-writing purposes. I picked up a card over at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trope_bingo for its current amnesty round, and most of my sketched out ideas for the squares are for this canon. Just. I love it so much. So much delicious loyalty kink and hurt/comfort and. Grisia. *_* His relationship with his holy knights is my everything. His relationship with Judgment in particular is my everything. And on a completely different note, I don’t think there’s any Neo/Aldrizzt on AO3, and I definitely need to fix that.
½ Prince - I can definitely see that this is the author’s first work. I liked the characters and their relationships enough to read all of it, but the overall plotting felt pretty weak and disjointed. It didn’t help that partway through the plot started ignoring my favorite elements in favor of things that I didn’t really care about. Also, there were a lot of transphobic slurs, which definitely soured the whole thing for me. (There is a pretty good crossover fic between this and Legend of the Sun Knight on AO3, though it’s still a WIP. You can find that here.)
Dominion’s End - Ahh, so good. I spent a whole Sunday dodging a million social responsibilities as well as I could just because I couldn’t put this one down. There was a brief point where I thought this was going to be a zombie apocalypse (the scene with the nurse) and nearly dropped it, but I was so hooked on the relationship between the Jiang siblings that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m glad that I did, because that was the only moment that really felt “zombie-ish” in a way that hits that particular squick, and it turned out to be a really fantastic story. Even if the third volume absolutely shattered me. ;_;
I think I’m going to have to do a reread of this one soon-ish—a lot of the plot points have melded together in my head, and I want to see how I feel about the earlier volumes now that I know the reveal from the third volume. (In particular, I was shipping the Jiang siblings pretty hard in the first two volumes, but their interactions in the fourth volume didn’t hit that same note for me, and I want to see if it’s because of a change in their actual interactions or in how I see them.)
Female Warrior - I want to see Grisia’s face if he ever finds out that the “God of Light” the first Sun Knight praised so much was actually a golden slime monster.
I Ship My Adversary X Me - I read something that wasn’t fantasy?? What is this madness?? And it’s about celebrities, which is usually the quickest way to lose my interest. But I can’t help it—this novel is just too cute. My face literally (and I mean that in the actual definition of the word) hurts from smiling each time I read a chapter.
I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It? - Ehhh. It’s alright? I mostly picked this one up because of the pseudo-not-actually-incest, if I’m being perfectly honest. I was entertained enough while reading it, but it falls into the same “m/m romance where the main character has a lot of internalized homophobia” trappings The Reader & Protagonist Definitely Have To Be in True Love did. And it’s also… just not that great. The more time passes since having read it, the less enthusiastic I feel about it.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System - The only thing that can challenge my Legend of the Sun Knight obsession. This has been on my to-read list for a long time (like, since shortly after I first started reading The Reader & Protagonist Definitely Have To Be in True Love long), but I kept putting it off because I’d bounced off of every cultivation novel I’d tried save for one. But now that I’ve actually read it… I’m obsessed. I’ve read all the translated chapters twice now, and barely managed a week in my “I won’t read the extras because I don’t want to be spoiled about any of the plot points for the ending” resolve before giving in and reading those too. I love this novel so much. ;_; And have far too many feelings about Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu/Luo Binghe. ;_;
Who Dares Slander My Senior Brother - This was actually a reread! I read this one for the first time over the summer and really liked it, and, after finding another cultivation novel I actually liked (i.e., Scum Villain), I decided to go back and reread/catch up on this one. I love it so much. ;_; I’m actually planning on writing for this canon for Be the Firstand by planning, I mean that I’m already 4K into a first draft, whoops. Though I wouldn’t read this one if you’re sensitive to consent issues. Nonconsensual somnophilia, anyone?
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - I’m not quite sure how to talk about this one. It...has a lot of undead, and I’m honestly surprised that I actually managed to read it, because squick squick squick. But the actual story was compelling enough that I managed to pull through, even if I can’t say that I actually “enjoyed” large sections of this story because of that squick of mine. On a more general level, my reaction to this actually reminds me a bit of how I felt about The Traitor Baru Cormorant, in that I feel that this is a very good story on an intellectual level, but can’t quite seem to connect to it emotionally. Though I did connect to this one a little more than I did to Baru Cormorant, in that I actually ship Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji and have feelings about WWX’s relationships with Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Oh, and A-Qing’s story in the Yi City Arc. A-Qing was the best. In short, I’ll probably read any fics for this that show up in exchanges, and I’m definitely reading the actual canon until the end, but I can’t see myself being very fannish about it.
Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - This started off very promising, but fizzled out for me somewhere between the 400-500 chapter mark. Everyone seems to have become much more one-note since then? Also, I really liked that Chu Lian got along with her in-laws (save for Madame Zou) so well, so that element being dropped really disappointed me. I’m probably still going to read it until the end (mostly because I’m hoping for a good reveal re: the transmigrator / reincarnator situation), but my enthusiasm has definitely waned. ...Really great food porn, though. The translator actually made a Google Docs file with pictures + recipes for all the dishes that Chu Lian makes, if you’re interested in checking that out.
► The Chocolate Box Collection is open! I didn’t sign-up this year, but I did treat, and I think that was the right choice to make. I don’t think I’m going to make a Proper Rec List this year, for various reasons, but have a few quick, initial recs of some of my absolute favorites. I’m definitely not finished with the collection yet; this is just from what I’ve seen so far.
Food Fantasy
Mercy Upon Us Sinners (Bloody Mary/Steak, 1.3K)
Bloody Mary gets another chance to plead his case. He's determined to succeed this time.
"This time I just want to tell you my story. I want you to understand how I became what you see now."
"A remorseless killer," Steak says.
"A lost soul," Mary answers. The church was fond of that phrase and he hated it from their lips, but he can make it his own if he tries. "You're a Food Soul. You should understand. We become what our masters make us."
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
Restless (Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 2.5K)
Nie Mingjue's unquiet spirit kicks off a realization that even Wei Wuxian can't avoid.
Original Work
Lost (Reclusive Male God/Male Human Who Accidentally Stumbles Onto His Sacred Grounds, 8.8K)
"Rare is the man who prays to a god, then does not recognize the answer," Shir commented.
Now Winter Nights Enlarge (Lost Male Traveller in the Forest/Male Spirit of Winter, 3.1K)
He watched them, sometimes, as the ice crept over their skin and the wind swept away their alien warmth. But he’d never followed one before, not until now.
What a strange, fascinating creature.
Sunless Sea
Green Longing (Fair King/Zee-Captain, <1K)
Sometimes the Fair King asks his prisoners: which is the most terrifying place in the Unterzee?
► I’ve read so many cnovels (if you interpret the “c” as meaning “Chinese-language”—some are actually Taiwanese) over the last two months. So many. ._. If I try to give my in-depth thoughts on all of them, I will never finish this update, so have some quick thoughts/impressions instead.
The Legend of the Sun Knight - To put it succinctly: I’ve read the whole series twice now, read Volume 5 in particular three times, and am planning on yet another reread for fic-writing purposes. I picked up a card over at
trope_bingo for its current amnesty round, and most of my sketched out ideas for the squares are for this canon. Just. I love it so much. So much delicious loyalty kink and hurt/comfort and. Grisia. *_* His relationship with his holy knights is my everything. His relationship with Judgment in particular is my everything. ½ Prince - I can definitely see that this is the author’s first work. I liked the characters and their relationships enough to read all of it, but the overall plotting felt pretty weak and disjointed. It didn’t help that partway through the plot started ignoring my favorite elements in favor of things that I didn’t really care about. Also, there were a lot of transphobic slurs, which definitely soured the whole thing for me. (There is a pretty good crossover fic between this and Legend of the Sun Knight on AO3, though it’s still a WIP. You can find that here.)
Dominion’s End - Ahh, so good. I spent a whole Sunday dodging a million social responsibilities as well as I could just because I couldn’t put this one down. There was a brief point where I thought this was going to be a zombie apocalypse (the scene with the nurse) and nearly dropped it, but I was so hooked on the relationship between the Jiang siblings that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m glad that I did, because that was the only moment that really felt “zombie-ish” in a way that hits that particular squick, and it turned out to be a really fantastic story. Even if the third volume absolutely shattered me. ;_;
I think I’m going to have to do a reread of this one soon-ish—a lot of the plot points have melded together in my head, and I want to see how I feel about the earlier volumes now that I know the reveal from the third volume. (In particular, I was shipping the Jiang siblings pretty hard in the first two volumes, but their interactions in the fourth volume didn’t hit that same note for me, and I want to see if it’s because of a change in their actual interactions or in how I see them.)
Female Warrior - I want to see Grisia’s face if he ever finds out that the “God of Light” the first Sun Knight praised so much was actually a golden slime monster.
I Ship My Adversary X Me - I read something that wasn’t fantasy?? What is this madness?? And it’s about celebrities, which is usually the quickest way to lose my interest. But I can’t help it—this novel is just too cute. My face literally (and I mean that in the actual definition of the word) hurts from smiling each time I read a chapter.
I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It? - Ehhh. It’s alright? I mostly picked this one up because of the pseudo-not-actually-incest, if I’m being perfectly honest. I was entertained enough while reading it, but it falls into the same “m/m romance where the main character has a lot of internalized homophobia” trappings The Reader & Protagonist Definitely Have To Be in True Love did. And it’s also… just not that great. The more time passes since having read it, the less enthusiastic I feel about it.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System - The only thing that can challenge my Legend of the Sun Knight obsession. This has been on my to-read list for a long time (like, since shortly after I first started reading The Reader & Protagonist Definitely Have To Be in True Love long), but I kept putting it off because I’d bounced off of every cultivation novel I’d tried save for one. But now that I’ve actually read it… I’m obsessed. I’ve read all the translated chapters twice now, and barely managed a week in my “I won’t read the extras because I don’t want to be spoiled about any of the plot points for the ending” resolve before giving in and reading those too. I love this novel so much. ;_; And have far too many feelings about Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu/Luo Binghe. ;_;
Who Dares Slander My Senior Brother - This was actually a reread! I read this one for the first time over the summer and really liked it, and, after finding another cultivation novel I actually liked (i.e., Scum Villain), I decided to go back and reread/catch up on this one. I love it so much. ;_; I’m actually planning on writing for this canon for Be the First
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - I’m not quite sure how to talk about this one. It...has a lot of undead, and I’m honestly surprised that I actually managed to read it, because squick squick squick. But the actual story was compelling enough that I managed to pull through, even if I can’t say that I actually “enjoyed” large sections of this story because of that squick of mine. On a more general level, my reaction to this actually reminds me a bit of how I felt about The Traitor Baru Cormorant, in that I feel that this is a very good story on an intellectual level, but can’t quite seem to connect to it emotionally. Though I did connect to this one a little more than I did to Baru Cormorant, in that I actually ship Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji and have feelings about WWX’s relationships with Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Oh, and A-Qing’s story in the Yi City Arc. A-Qing was the best. In short, I’ll probably read any fics for this that show up in exchanges, and I’m definitely reading the actual canon until the end, but I can’t see myself being very fannish about it.
Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - This started off very promising, but fizzled out for me somewhere between the 400-500 chapter mark. Everyone seems to have become much more one-note since then? Also, I really liked that Chu Lian got along with her in-laws (save for Madame Zou) so well, so that element being dropped really disappointed me. I’m probably still going to read it until the end (mostly because I’m hoping for a good reveal re: the transmigrator / reincarnator situation), but my enthusiasm has definitely waned. ...Really great food porn, though. The translator actually made a Google Docs file with pictures + recipes for all the dishes that Chu Lian makes, if you’re interested in checking that out.
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