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shijiujun · 3 years

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Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down.

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

#the wife is first #you own my all #qi wei shang #妻为上 #danmei #danmei novel #stebeee recs #min's why you should read

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booksandwords · 3 years

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Zhao Zi, the man broke that perp’s wrist just for touching your ass, and Jack’s hand was on his knife the very next second. If Yu Qi hadn’t stepped in knowing what he was going to do, he would’ve probably cut off the guy’s hand. That doesn’t sound like a man who doesn’t want you.

Between You and Me by @stebeee

This is a Meng Shao Fei centric fic post series. It is Shao Fei and his just trying to cope. The characters fit well and made me smile. I really like this line, it’s perfect Jack.

#history 3: trapped #stebeee #meng shao fei #fanfic rec #quotes #it really is brilliant jack and i'm sorry jack is my fave character #i also really like the desensitisation of unit three to jack a mercenary #it will never not be funny

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ruanbaijie · 3 years

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Now that this hell year is almost over let’s celebrate the good things! If you’re receiving this it means you have made someone’s year better. Tell who on tumblr has made this year better for you (as many people as you like, it can be something as small as liking your posts or sending something sweet) and share some of the content you’ve enjoyed (your own or others)

ahhhh thank you anon!! ^^ I feel like I’ve done a similar thank you reply/ post already but here goes another!

@stebeee min for probably the most unexpected friendship to come out of this shitty year, thank you for being my fellow zhang yunlong worshipper, danmei rec senpai, almost neighbour, bad day bitching recipient, and taobao enabler (hmmmm maybe not this one......) ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

@fengqing and @paulyubin ems and hope for being the most wonderful and dedicated net admins ever, even though you two profess to only sharing one brain cell. AND EMS I think I can finally remember your url now, after you were changing it like 2031993 times in the span of like a week alsflksdklfkdl BUT OKAY I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU THAT YOU ACTUALLY GOT THIS ONE?!?!

frequent tag game victims and mutuals (⺣◡⺣)♡* @aheartfullofjolllly @bees0are0awesome @candicewright @distantsnows @highwarlockkareena @linglynz @vishcount @tiesanjiao @wangxianbunnydoodles thank you for tolerating my nonsense and constant tag games this isn’t a tag game by the way I’m just tagging

the 2ha community! the fandom is growing really quickly on tumblr (for better or for worse), but I really treasure the time I was screaming all about it here and really in complete, devastating pain, and I found there were other people whom I could scream together with ;-; and also @sansatully / @choowanning for still being so active in the fandom and also for acquiescing that playlist collab asdflkasdkflksdflk ♡(ŐωŐ人)

more zhang yunlong worshippers (aka fellow mmcs)!! @sillyfanturtle @drownjngindreams I’m so glad to have found y’all too because his fanbase outside mainland china seems quite small and he’s not as well known compared to other actors, but it’s quite exciting and heartwarming at the same time to realise that I’m not the only one who absolutely loses it every time a new photoshoot of him drops

and also! I really only started giffing at the end of january this year, even though I’ve been here since 2010. a really, really big thank you to those who helped me gain more exposure and gave me the drive and confidence to continue creating from your reblogs and comments, whether in the replies or in the tags, whether you’re following me or not (っ´◕ω◕)っ and especially @baoshan-sanren @fytheuntamed @mylastbraincql @theuntamednarrator - honestly I don’t know how to express how grateful I am for y’all, I think january me would be looking at december me and be in disbelief at how far I’ve progressed in terms of my skills

just a few of the amazing content that have been living in my head rent free for the past year:

@yiqiie mai’s “flectere si nequeo superos acheronta movebo” set [x]

@tiesanjiao ali’s lwj’s punishment set [x]

@distantsnows maria’s wwx set to the lyrics of beekeeper by keaton henson [x]

@zazrichor zaz’s nmj portrait [x]

@bees0are0awesome bees’ painting of lwj in the rain at qiongqi pass [x]

@candicewright candice’s painting of the butterfly in lwj’s palm [x]

@/anya-chalotra ‘s edit of the first four episodes of the witcher [x]

@/scinnlaece ‘s edit of the old guard [x]

#*replies

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sarah-yyy · 3 years

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after being deeply hurt by spn i decided to follow the advice of so many people here and started watching the untamed. i am now looking for more blogs to follow. do you think you can rec me some?

just very quickly off the top of my head:

@hunxi-guilai @besanii @pumpkinpaix @bloody-bee-tea @bahoreal @linglynz @yibuo @yibowang @stebeee @weilongfu @thewickling @kaileech @lanzhannnn @drwcn @howdydowdy @wangxiians

this is definitely missing some people because my memory??? definitely like wwx. i can repeat s23 of the amlcft act word for word, but i can’t remember the names of my favourite blog sometimes /o\

#asks #Anonymous

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randomingoftherandomness · 4 years

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I haven't been spamming this on most of my socials, but yes, I have a new podcast! It is a shamelessly, unrepentantly, gloriously geeky podcast. New episodes come out every Wednesday. Every 2nd and 4th Thursday is interview episodes with fandom fams and friends! Every last day of the month is a Fic Rec Episode 😍

This is the first interview episode and it is with the lovely Lavinia aka @janiedean 😊❤️

Thus far I've got four episodes up. I'm still working out the voice I wanna take with the podcast but for now, I'm pretty happy with it. I do hope you'll give it a listen. If you like what you hear, please rate it a five star wherever you can. It would help me out very much. You can find this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Anchor, PocketCasts, Breaker and RadioPublic.

If you'd like to suggest a topic to cover, rec me a fic or are interested in participating in the interview segments please DM me or email me at [email protected] or follow me @thegabcarrie on Instagram.

Okay, so I'm gonna tag a few folks. If you'd like to be notified on new releases, do let me know. Hope you all have a wonderful day ahead! 💕

@stebeee @weilongfu @thewickling @sarah-yyy @veraverorum @astridcontramundum @aozu @kaouu @aurumacadicus @naanima

#gab does podcast #Randoming Podcast #Gab irl #Fandom #Podcast

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h3trappedcollection · 4 years

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Author Interview Part III

Let us welcome @stebeee for another round of Author Interview with the talented Trapped fic writers! 🎉🎉

Story written for the Collection:

I like the way you look at me

Interview:

How did you come into the Trapped fandom?

Hahaha I was watching Right or Wrong and happened to tell my best friend about it and I didn’t know that she was following the series? And she explained the whole concept to me and was like “DID YOU KNOW THERE’S AN UPCOMING ONE IT LOOKS LIKE A COP X GANGSTER ONE” or something like that, and “FOLLOW THIS ACCOUNT THAT’S DOING UDPATES ON IT” (@florbexter it turned out to be) and yeah the moment the 6 minute trailer was out in like Feb? Mar? I was hooked. Then I did my very first translating thingy on Tumblr with the Trapped character profiles and never looked back XD

Who’s your favourite character?

Hmm that’s a tough one but it’s gotta be Shao Fei for sure? I mean Tang Yi comes really close but gosh I love everything about him — how dumb he is, FiFi, his jawline, the way he huffs and puffs when he gets angry and annoyed, the way he rolls his eyes, the way he dozes off while shopping with Hong Ye, the way he’s so competent at work even if he’s the one creating the most trouble. I LOVE EVERYTHING.

What’s your favourite trope?

Hmm definitely enemies-to-lovers + bed sharing! And any sort of hurt/comfort OOOOH angst with a happy ending? Not really unrequited love?! Erm FOUND FAMILY?!

What do you like about writing for Trapped?

I think it’s definitely that I can imagine the characters better? It’s my first real fandom ever! My favourite one too, and it’s honestly the first show I’ve watched literally from start to end including all the interviews, variety shows, BTS, and then actually seeing the boys in real life — I think writing all the summaries every week helped too, because it’s frickin hard for me to write them in character I think? Even now I wonder if I’m doing it right, but I’ve definitely got a better grasp on the characters in Trapped than anywhere else so it makes writing flow a little smoother. Besides, so many characters with so much potential, like Dao Yi, Hong Ye and ah, my fave two boys Jin Tang and Andy.

Care to elaborate on your writing process?

Okay so far… definitely I come up with prompts first? I’ve got a list of… ooh 16 prompts in my list right now, and then I try to go through them when I feel like it? I have to say that a lovely anon I call headcanon anon has been integral in kickstarting my fic writing because I think the very first fic I published last Sept/Oct was a prompt from them!! I digress, but in any case, yeah there’s no… exact process really? But definitely need to have prompts. And then I pray that I'm struck with some burst of motivation to finish writing a one shot in a day.

Your favourite Trapped fic by another author?

Ooooh there are plenty, I made a list of Trapped fic recs a while back with my faves on it.

What do you want to write but never had the nerve to?

AND AN ACTUAL MULTI-CHAPTERED FIC AMEN.

If you want, please share a snippet of your current Trapped WIPs.

Okay so there are like so many open items on the list but here's a few!

The ‘5 times TY wants to say I love you but didn’t and 1 time he finally does’ inspired from headcanon anon’s ask

And... and and... an AU where we get babysitter SF for single dad TY's ridiculous twins

And this sort of dumb idea for an AU where SF is a Taekwondo instructor and TY happens to have some new brothers who keeps losing at fights and so he hires SF to come whip the new recruits into shape and they fall in love

A sequel to just waiting, waiting (on you) where Shao Fei takes care of his friends, just as they took care of him and haha a sneak peek (or the summary):

Shao Fei isn’t used to having so many people to take care of, but he tries his best. That’s what Tang Yi would want, he tells himself.

As a bullet flies over, striking the table he’s hiding behind, Shao Fei wonders if it’s too late to change his mind.

“Who did you offend this time?!” he yells over the noise.

Hong Ye, who was just minutes ago trying on her fifth wedding dress and is now crouched behind a pillar with Dao Yi covering her with his body, scowls at him.

“Why do you always assume that it’s my fault?!”

Or, Shao Fei finds ways to solve the problems of his new family, one at a time.

#h3trappedcollection #history 3: trapped #history 3: 圈套 #author interview

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coquelicoq · 5 years

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IT’S A TRAP(ped tag masterpost)!

alternate titles:

tumblr stop eating my tags challenge 2k19

hey, you. *opens trenchcoat* wanna buy some trapped tags?

*stevie wonder voice* trapped, tagged, delivered (back into the wild like a bird with a scientific ankle bracelet), i’m yours

someday i’ll be dead and my family will have to face the fact that this is how i spent my time

WHEW so i’ve been working on a lil project to go back through all 1000+ posts & reblogs in my history3 tag and retag them for easy retrieval and let me tell you, one thousand posts is a lot of posts! and there are a lot of talented and funny fucks in this fandom, is my takeaway. anyway, tumblr keeps doing this annoying thing where it suddenly acts like i’ve never written a tag before in my life, and of course i can never remember what tags i’ve used before without autocomplete, so i’m gonna write all my trapped tags in one place as extra insurance against that inevitable day.

i don’t actually expect anyone other than me to use this, but if you happen to find it interesting, knock yourself out! i’ll link to each tag on my blog for convenience. let me know if any of them are broken.

format and category tags

#trapped fic

#trapped art

#trapped gif

#trapped vid - includes clips of the show, bts videos, fanvids, etc.

#trapped memes

#xing tian meme - look for some reason i’m very invested in the notion that the xing tian meng henchmen are meme trash, and if i had my druthers, these are the memes they would be sharing in the group chat.

#incorrect trapped

#trapped edit

#trapped characters as - trapped x onion headlines, trapped x text posts, etc.

#trapped bingo

#trapped meta - analysis of canon

#trapped fanon - i’m using “fanon” very loosely here...really just for any headcanon, rather than only for headcanons that are widely adopted by the fandom (as i don’t feel qualified to be the arbiter of what has been widely adopted by the fandom lol).

#trapped fan theories - there is some overlap with the trapped fanon tag here, but mostly i used this for speculation about future episodes made while the show was still airing. i’ve also used this tag for discussion of plotholes, even when a possible theory to explain the plothole is not offered in the post.

#trapped recapped - exclusively for posts that give a blow-by-blow of an entire episode

#trapped watch - exclusively for observations i made while watching or rewatching an episode

#trapped reference - @florbexter‘s masterpost about where to watch the episodes, @stebeee’s masterpost about the novel, @sarah-yyy‘s rec post, this post, etc.

content tags

general

every post is tagged both #history3 and #history 3: trapped

every episode gets its own tag. note that the numbers are based on the way the show was originally released, as 20 separate episodes; on viki they’ve combined two episodes into one so there’s only 10 total. this means that episode 5 on viki is covered by the tags for episodes 9 and 10, for example.

#trapped ep 01 / #trapped ep 02 / #trapped ep 03 / #trapped ep 04 / #trapped ep 05 / #trapped ep 06 / #trapped ep 07 / #trapped ep 08 / #trapped ep 09 / #trapped ep 10 / #trapped ep 11 / #trapped ep 12 / #trapped ep 13 / #trapped ep 14 / #trapped ep 15 / #trapped ep 16 / #trapped ep 17 / #trapped ep 18 / #trapped ep 19 / #trapped ep 20

note that these tags (and in fact all of my trapped tags) are full of spoilers for the whole series; many of the posts are tagged with multiple episodes when relevant, and also i’ve tagged speculation posts with the episode they ended up being about even when we didn’t know at the time when certain events would happen.

#trapped costumes

#making predictions about future episodes based on costumes is my favorite new hobby - i have this bad habit of writing a long awkward tag as commentary with no plans to use it ever again, and then somehow turning it into a regular tag that i use all the time, so you can see why autocomplete failing me is a real disaster.

#trapped props

#it’s his rib y’all

#MYSTERY BOX!!!! bring! on! the! fan! theories! - what can i say, i was very excited about this particular prop, and now i am paying the price. i am my own worst enemy tbh

#trapped bts

#trapped fandom

#trapped novel

#trapped faves - my 100 favorite trapped posts in one single place. there are a lot of really awesome posts that didn’t get included in this tag because i was trying to keep it to a manageable number, but everything that is in here is pure gold if you ask me. a few of my own posts have snuck in because 1) love yourself and 2) i’m hilarious

#my trapped posts - all trapped posts for which i am the op, including stuff like asks i received where i didn’t even do much lol

characters

#meng shaofei

#meng shaofei? more like meng shaoFACE - listen do i have to keep telling you how bad i am at making useful, normal tags?

#kermit!shaofei

#shaofei x hospital - i couldn’t help it, it’s everybody’s secret favorite ship. also, i think i sometimes used this tag for shaofei being injured even when he’s not literally in the hospital, but i wasn’t super consistent about it.

#shaofei x ‘tang yi!’

#TINY little ‘mmph’ - that one sound shaofei makes during the backhug in episode 16, you know the one

#tang yi

#tang yi is large. he contains multitudes

#tang yi x revenge

#zhao zi

#my smol precious dummy son

#zhao zi self elected president of the tangfei ship club

#today in zhao zi logic

#zhao zi x food

#jack

#jack the certified morosexual

#this corny ass motherfucker

#zuo hong ye

#gu dao yi

#tang guo dong

#chen wen hao

#andy

#dr. jiang

#chief shi

#yu qi

#jun wei

#lee li zhen

#li zhi de - this is ah de, the gangster

#zhou guan zhi - this is ah zhi, the cop

#he hang

#wang kun cheng

and of course the real mvp, #fifi

ships

#tangfei

#and they were half friends

#power move dialoguing

#jack x zz

brotps

#return of the in laws (hongye & shaofei)

#my very stupid adorable sons (zhao zi & shaofei)

#the xtm power sibs (tang yi & hongye, very fitting phrasing courtesy of @pumpkinpaix )

#trapped cast

#jake hsu

#one time jake hsu’s eyeballs punched me in the face. it was awesome

#chris wu

#kenny chen

#andy bian

non-trapped-specific tags that got a workout during trapped

#the cutest boy - in trapped this is exclusively for zz

#it’s the hands that get me and #tender! thumb! action! - these aren’t just tangfei but...they’re mostly tangfei

#heart eyes emoji

#the tenderness

#fond

#very good extremely fresh high quality nutritious soft boyfriend content

@ future me: you’re welcome

#history3 #history 3: trapped #history 3: 圈套 #i do NOT want to talk about how long this took me.#but if you want a hint this is the project i was talking about being 5% done with on day 7 of trapped appreciation week #*weak chuckle*#i don't think i have quite figured out my tagging philosophy. i think i undertagged sometimes and overtagged other times #there's only 6 posts in 'today in zhao zi logic' even though there could surely be more #but then a tag like 'tang yi' i used so liberally that it would probably take a long time to find any specific post in there #still it's much better than the unbridled chaos it was before lol #trapped reference #tags #my trapped posts #my posts #i haven't looked at my dash in a few days because hashtag depression lol but i hope you're all doing well #i <3 this fandom #don't be a stranger #f #links #linked to #cuts

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shijiujun · 3 years

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[END 2020] My Top 9 Danmei Novel Picks of the Year

As a part of my Round Up post for the year, here’s my pick of favourite danmei novels, that I’ve read! This is sort of an accompaniment to my previous danmei rec list over HERE, so there may be one or two overlaps, but I’ve read WAY MORE after that and am prepared to like give more options here

Note: There should be English translations for all via novel updates if you do a search of the English name, but I don’t think most of them are completed.

If you wanna see my full reading and queue list (it’s all in Chinese tho, for my own records), it’s here.

I’m leaving out the usual MXTX and Priest ones, because they’re already good and we all know that and there’re many carrds and posts dedicated to them.

I am also a sucker for fainting but smart men, and not too overly angsty/complicated storylines, just putting it out there first, which is why I haven’t read a lot of some of the ones on my queue list.

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1. 一剑霜寒 | A Sword of Frost by 语笑阑珊

Summary: Jing Yan Ran is the Emperor’s brother and wields military power in the novel, and it starts with an object being stolen from the palace. Jing Yan Ran has to retrieve the item secretly, and so enlists the help of Feng Yu Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Yi Feng, who heads the martial arts world’s one and only information trading post. Yun Yi Feng does not deal in business that involves any royalty, but Jing Yan Ran offers him something he cannot refuse - the Blood Red Lingzhi, a rare and mystical herb that is rumoured to be able to treat his life-threatening condition.

Yun Yi Feng was used by his shifu when he was younger to test out all kinds of poisons and cures, and since then, his body flushes dangerously hot and cold frequently, with bouts of severe coughing fits in between. Throughout the first mission where he spends time with Jing Yan Ran searching for the stolen object, he allows Jing Yan Ran to take care of him, and they fall in LURVE pretty much like 10 chapters in.

Of course, they have to uncover a plot and conspiracy against their enemies who are plotting to dethrone the Emperor, and also reveal the secrets of Yun Yi Feng’s birth.

My Thoughts: AN ABSOLUTE FAVE AND GEM, I’d say this is my favourite danmei novel ever. This is both hilarious and tears-inducing, to be honest, because for most of the novel YYF knows he doesn’t have long to live and so in the beginning he knows of his own feelings for JYR and JYR also shows him that he loves him, but he is unable to officially reciprocate because he knows his body is like weakening day by day. Halfway through the fear that he’s literally about to die as they are JUST about to find the cure is real, and damn I cried so much at that. Some highlights:

YYF falls asleep very easily in baths and everywhere actually, and pretty much within the first 10 chapters he gets used to JYR carrying him around (even naked from the bath, he’s like oh well, okay cool) and taking care of him, and JYR ALWAYS makes sure he is warm and toasty under his cape

YYF LOVESSSS RICHES, PLAYING THE ZITHER AND COOKING - He’s good at gathering the first one, but he FUCKING SUCKS AS THE LAST TWO - It’s so funny because he’s so beautiful and handsome right, and when he sits down at the zither everyone is like OH DAMN WHAT A DREAM- and then he plays, and everyone’s fantasies is shattered, he’s ABYSMAL at it, and the same goes for cooking

JYR doesn’t actually have the Blood Red Lingzhi, and throughout the first arc, he feels SO DAMN GUILTY because YYF even carved out a pendant that looks like what he thinks the herb looks like, and like carries it with him everywhere LMAO

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

2. 高能二维码 | High Energy QR Code by 青色羽翼

Summary: CEO Xing Ye’s brother Xing Shuo has just passed away at the age of 24, and nothing will make him believe that Xing Shuo died of natural causes despite autopsies and experts telling him that he really died simply of a heart failure. Xing Ye, who has impeccable memory, suddenly recalls the last time he saw Xing Shuo. His brother called out to him just before Xing Ye left for a business trip, and looked as if he had something to say, but ended up just wishing him a safe trip.

At that moment, there was a QR code on Xing Shuo’s phone, and the phone screen was strangely turned out towards Xing Ye, and Xing Ye, with his incredibly high IQ and memory, realizes that Xing Shuo wanted him to see the QR code. Quickly, he reproduces the QR code by pen and then scans it, and finds himself in a game world.

There he meets a narcissistic but also cute mirror which can speak, and finds out later that his name is Lu Ming Ze. Xing Ye’s mission is to clear the game missions in each round that is set by the black and white cubic game system, a system that continuously tempts its players into giving in to committing sins such as killing someone else, stealing and other things. He soon realizes that if he cannot stay on a path clear of these sins, he will never be able to triumph over the game system and return Lu Ming Ze back to his body in the real world.

At the same time, he gains new teammates and friends for life, and also finds out what role his brother played in this game.

My Thoughts: MY GOD I LOVE THIS. I LITERALLY JUST FINISHED READING THIS YESTERDAY, and honestly it’s one of my faves. I don’t like game systems very often (I’ve read three others so far, and this, and KOD are the only ones I’ve liked) but this one is *chef’s kiss*. So LMZ was born like with a really handsome face, like SUPER HANDSOME, and that’s why he’s like a harmless narcissist that cannot bear to look at ugly things LMAO, but he’s not spoilt, he makes sure that Xing Ye stays true to himself, and help him keep his head clear.

THE ONLY THING ABOUT THIS FRICKIN NOVEL IS THAT LU MING ZE STAYS A MIRROR, LIKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MIRRORS, in the first TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY CHAPTERS. I KID YOU NOT. I FRICKIN KID YOU NOT. I swear I was sooo touched starved at the end of the novel, because they couldn’t even kiss?!! Like Xing Ye kisses the mirror, and then uses his thumbs to like hi-five mini LMZ in the mirror back, they can’t even hug. Do you know how empty my arms felt when I read this book?!! And my arms have never been filled!!!!!!

I really like this one because each game world is set up in such a brilliant way, but it’s not so unnecessarily complex that you literally don’t know what the fuck is going on. Xing Ye’s intelligence as he outmanoeuvres every single one of his enemies and convinces his would-be loyal teammates to trust him is so satisfying, world after world, victory after victory.

Humour is also absolutely ON POINT. A lot of it is centred on Xing Ye getting caught in the real world kissing his handheld mirror (LMZ) by LMZ’s parents (who cannot see him in the mirror) and LMZ’s parents going like ???!!!!!!!!

Available: Novel Online | Physical Novel is coming out on 10 Dec (freebies are, you guessed it, a mirror)

3. 妻为上 | The Wife is First by 绿野千鹤

Summary: This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

My Thoughts: OKAY BEFORE YALL GO INTO THE ‘WIFE’ terminology discourse and everything, in this case they do use the term ‘wife’ literally, and it’s a position, that while men frequently fall into (there are a lot of male ‘wives’ in this story), is also used to cut off like sons from inheriting the family and the fortune, and even titles. Male ‘wives’ aren’t looked down upon in this setting, in fact, Han Zhang gets a lot of leeway as one, and in his case he was also able to rise up the ranks to be an actual official later on, but the sad thing comes from sons who are most of the time forced to marry a male ‘wife’ for whatever reason, and then they are neglected as the son goes and find concubines, women he actually wants to sleep with - this is sad af yall. I don’t know, on one hand, yay for equality in marriage in this setting, but on the other hand like, damn, must you use same-sex marriage like that argh.

ANYWAY THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVES TOO?!!! I mean, especially when Jing Shao literally just goes into doting mode 200% and Han Zhang is totally like wtf why is he so nice to me is he scheming or something? And then he realizes that Jing Shao is really, really gentle towards him despite his reputation as a cruel, dark military commander, and Jing Shao always smiles at him. In any situation, especially in the beginning, when Han Zhang thought Jing Shao would not stand with him, Jing Shao literally just protects him no matter what, gives him everything, and cries, I love it.

Especially because Han Zhang is the son of a concubine and he was bullied a lot in the Mu family, and the official Lady Mu married him off to Jing Shao in hopes that he would be unhappy for the rest of his life, and I suppose that came true in the first life, but in the second, Han Zhang gets all the love, respect and support he never got before in this family with Jing Shao and that makes me WEEP.

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Kuaikan

4. 死亡万花筒 Kaleidoscope of Death by 西子绪

OOOH I intro-ed KOD here in my previous rec list. Still one of my faves and all-time re-reads, especially under the covers in the dark hehehe.

5. 你的距离 | Your Distance by 公子优

Summary: Ting Shuang is a student at a German university, and has this handsome professor Bai Chang Yi who he swears kind of hates him. He’s just broken up with his longtime boyfriend, and then goes on this dating app that matches a profile with him based on distance. The app can also show the matched profile’s distance from him once they enter the same area, and Ting Shuang starts chatting with this Chinese guy on the app, who he finds out later, is 36 years old, 187cm in height and wears glasses.

The guy is a little aloof and cool, very mature in his replies on the app, and somehow Bai Chang Yi finds out who he is later, as Ting Shuang starts complaining to him about his professor to Bai Chang Yi. Instead of getting angry and offended, BCY is pretty much amused and finds Ting Shuang cute. A few days later Ting Shuang finally realizes who it is he’s been texting, and after getting past the initial embarrassment and fear, they start dating for real, and they really fall in love!!!!!

My Thoughts: This is sweet and also hilarious af, if you need to like satisfy your sweet tooth, this is definitely one for you. It’s really funny because Bai Chang Yi runs in the same circles as Ting Shuang’s dad, who he’s estranged from because the dad doesn’t want to recognize a son who is gay, and then BCY convinces him later in the funniest of ways, and there’s a small subplot at the end in which Ting Shuang is pretty cool, and yep, short and sweet! BCY in the manhua is handsome af too guys ;-;

Available: Novel Online, Audio Drama on Maoer FM and Manhua on Bilibili,

6. 神木挠不尽 The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post by 绿野千鹤

Summary: Mo Tian Liao, a weapons forger and master who ruled the Demon Tribe, was hunted down and killed by other righteous sects in the region when he managed to forge an incredibly destructive weapon that could end the world. Before he died, he placed the only thing he loved, a white cat, into a hole in the tree behind him to protect it. The only thing he was grateful for was that he did not create a blood pact with the cat, Xiao Mao, because if he had done so, when he died, Xiao Mao would have died along with him as well.

Right before he dies, unbeknownst to him, Xiao Mao who is no simple demonic cat, wraps part of his consciousness around Mo Tian Liao, and MTL’s spirit ends up floating about for 300 years, until he finds a suitable time to return with a body made out of a special tree and its wood. The first thing he does, of course, is to find his white cat, but he’s poor, and the body he has isn’t powerful, so he joins Wo Yun Sect, the only sect that did not hunt him down that day hundreds of years ago.

There, he is chosen by Qing Tong shizun to be his direct disciple, much to the astonishment of other shizuns in the sect, and Qing Tong’s shixiongs. MTL has never seen a person as beautiful and gorgeous as his shizun, and if only he could find that cat (who’s actually his shizun, who recognizes him and protects him, even if MTL doesn’t actually need much protection).

My Thoughts: This was hilarious as well, and so romantic?!!! Qing Tong/Xiao Mao waited for MTL to come back, and the moment he came back, Qing Tong was there ready to grab him, and then before he went to sleep that night, Qing Tong thought to himself, “I’ve gotten my person back, I can sleep well now” and AHHHHH at this point they weren’t even like a couple yet? MTL ‘kidnapped’ Qing Tong when he was a young demon cat by accident because he likes pretty things (like his shizun lmao) and Qing Tong is attached to him because MTL never forced a blood pact on him, and gave him everything he wanted as a younger cat before MTL died. Gosh, a mirror in #2 and then a cat now with this one. XD

Available: Novel Online

7. 破云 | Breaking the Clouds by 淮上

Summary: Three years ago, Captain Jiang Ting and his team of the Narcotics division perished in an explosion due to a wrong call of his, and he returns three years later under a new identity ready to deal with the people who set him and his team up. He’s caught in what seems to be a simple murder case almost immediately and meets Yan Xie, who’s Vice Captain and in charge of this case. Yan Xie realizes who Jiang Ting is shortly after, and begins to unravel the huge mystery surrounding the events of three years ago, and falls in love with Jiang Ting along the way as well.

My Thoughts: Okay out of the FOUR crime/detective/thriller danmei novels I’ve read, the poyun and tunhai (below) series is the one that MIRRORS actual narcotics division and undercovers the best. It has the complexity and depth of the drugs/narcotics world, and both this one and its sequel focuses a lot on the position of an undercover and mole. I liked this one a lot because there are SOOOO many twists especially in the last arc, like you honestly won’t see any of them coming until it hits you? And Yan Xie is such a confident, rich-ass narcissist, and he keeps asking Jiang Ting if he can “just touch” him ONCE lmao, he’s thick-skinned af, but that’s why he and Jiang Ting are so compatible ;-;.

Available: Novel Online, Novel Print, Audio Drama and Manhua on Bilibili

8. 吞海 | Swallowing the Sea by 淮上

Summary: Sequel to Po Yun. Yu Wu is a young-looking new detective under Captain Bu Chong Hua’s narcotics team. Bu Chong Hua is Yan Xie’s cousin by actual relation, but brother in relationship because BCH’s parents died early and Yan Xie’s parents have been taking care of him mostly. He cannot stand Yu Wu, who seems to want to coast through at work and keep to a 9-5 work schedule.

It’s only after an altercation and Yu Wu dumping his nonchalant facade to snarl at BCH that he realizes that YW is actually more interesting and mysterious than he thought, and he begins to try to get close to him, understand him. It turns out that Yu Wu is a famous undercover who nearly died a year ago during an operation, and due to various reasons, he was assigned to BCH’s team by higher ups so he can peacefully live the rest of his life out there. However, his past catches up with him quickly, and his enemies turning up forces him to rely on BCH.

With BCH, Yu Wu’s resentment of having to be an undercover in the past and being so easily discarded by his team’s leaders, and of him being forced to be in the shadows while others can announce their achievements to the world, is slowly erased, because BCH sees him, knows him, and understands him more than anyone else.

My Thoughts: I actually liked this one better than the first one - Yu Wu is such a pouty, angry little thing?! And for good reason (there’s a bit of cannibalism in the book, not by choice when he was younger and in a poor village in Cambodia, where some militants forced survivors in the village to eat the meat of boiled corpses of other villagers, so YW is a vegetarian, like if he eats meat he gets really sick) and the twists here are even more amazing?! BCH really, really, devotes himself to YW the moment he realizes how much he likes him, doing a 180 degree turn. Instead of Yan Xie’s flamboyance, BCH is much steadier, grouchy, like an old uncle, but also looks at things even more clearly than Yan Xie does sometimes. Yu Wu is understandably bitter about what he had to go through, and BCH is the ONLY person who can calm him down, whom he listens to, which I LOVE. Some highlights:

Yu Wu grew up in a poor village and thus loves money, and he fights in underground betting rings to earn more money - The stash of hidden money he collects I think is half for his escape money, but if he happens to never need it, his dream is to donate the money to his village so they can open up a school there - ANYWAY because Yan Xie’s parents, and technically BCH’s ‘parents’ are soooooo rich right, Yan Xie’s mom shows her approval to her son-in-laws (Jiang Ting first, then Yu Wu), by giving them winter pants. It’s kind of like inside warmers, and usually meant for older ladies to wear LOLOL so Yu Wu was like staring at the pants when he finally got them and looked soooo reluctant until Jiang Ting told him it costs $6,000 AND HE WAS LIKE :333333 okie

He acts a lot like a kid?!! He likes eating like some snack but it’s really unhealthy for him, and BCH the mother hen keeps catching him in weird places like the toilet, where he’s hiding from BCH so he can eat his fave snack?! And the whole police station knows not to give YW what he wants in terms of snacks and smokes because once BCH finds out, he makes life very difficult for them HAHAHAHA

9. 穿成反派如何活命 | How to Survive as A Villain by 伊依以翼

Summary: Rich and handsome CEO Xiao Yu An finds out he has a terminal illness (cancer), and dies while he’s reading this online novel, where a king mistreats the crown prince from a neighbouring state which sent him over as hostage after losing a war, and ends up being killed by the crown prince years later (SVSSS much?!). He wakes up AS THE KING, and afraid of dying, he immediately goes about befriending the prince, Yan He Qing. Yan He Qing falls in love with Xiao Yu An while being his friend/hostage/bodyguard, and Xiao Yu An tries to avoid all the deaths he read in the book, while making sure Yan He Qing manages to find his three/four wives, including Xiao Yu An’s sister.

Of course, because Xiao Yu An showed him warmth and kindness, Yan He Qing ends up falling for him instead, and Xiao Yu An is an absolute oblivious idiot because he REALLY doesn’t realize until much later. Yan He Qing ends up declaring war on Xiao Yu An’s kingdom because he is duty bound to do so, but doesn’t hurt Xiao Yu An, wanting to keep him by his side, but YHQ’s scheming uncle drives a wedge between them, and XYA leaves, breaking YHQ’s heart.

They meet again a few years later, where XYA is training to be a physician in a small village and chances upon a severely injured YHQ. There, he realizes that it was all a misunderstanding, and that YHQ actually LIKES, LIKES him, but before they can enjoy this short period of happiness, disaster strikes again.

My Thoughts: THIS WAS really enjoyable, and with the manhua visuals, it is *chef’s kiss*. I think this transmigration version actually delved into the part where XYA is unable to change everything, and if he saves one person, someone else is destined to die, and that moral dilemma devastates him a lot. In this novel he actually transmigrates TWICE, once into the king’s body, and the second time into a neighbouring state’s prince/king’s body, who looks exactly like his modern self after. YHQ is real sweet to him istg, and I like that the epilogues are SUPER EXTENSIVE, including an arc where YHQ and XYA transmigrate back to the real world and everyone who died is alive and close to them, and gets their happy ending ;-;

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

#danmei rec list #stebeee recs #a sword of frost #your distance #swallowing the sea #breaking the clouds #kaleidoscope of death #High Energy QR Code #How to Survive as A Villain #The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post

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