Introductions

[geraineon]

Welcome! You can use this post to share a little bit of yourself! Feel free to also just post an introduction to the community instead of replying to this post! You don't have to follow any format, but here are some prompts:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What is your favourite cnovel?
3. Do you have a favourite author?
4. What are your other hobbies and interests?
5. What do you hope to see from this community?

Comments

[headstone]

Hi! I've been lurking a few weeks but figure I may as well introduce myself properly.

1. What are you currently reading?

Currently near the start of vol. 3 of Remnants of Filth.

2. What is your favourite cnovel?

TGCF, for better or worse! I've been in a deep, deep fanwork-creating pit for years.

3. Do you have a favourite author?

MXTX, sorry. I am branching out, though.

4. What are your other hobbies and interests?

Various and sundry, but most relevant to this comm is that I read a lot of trad pubbed fiction and nonfiction, write, and make zines.

5. What do you hope to see from this community?

Recs and thoughtful discussion! I'm interested in baihe, danmei, and gen cnovels, especially wuxia/xianxia/historical, but am entirely limited to English translated work, so I really appreciate connecting with people who have an ear to the ground in the translation world.

[geraineon]

Hi and welcome!

Recs and discussions seem to be the general consensus on what members would like to see, so you're in good company. Hopefully you'll find plenty more c-novels to love here!

[hazevi]

Hi, I'm hazy! Kind of coming from the baihe comm but also just looking around in general. I'm currently also translating a modern baihe novel called If I Could Mail You A Book.

I'm currently reading a modern school baihe romance novel called The Girls Who Raise Cats (养猫人家) by author Lin Cheng Mu Sen 林城木森.

Some novels I liked off of the top of my head, recency bias also included (don't have a favorite lol):
When the Wind Arises (风起时) by Su Xian (苏弦_)
Hazy Dawn （晨昏) by Ruo Hua Ci Shu (若花辞树)
You Fei | Legend of Fei | Bandits by Priest
Picking Up Stars (捡星星) by Bu Wen San Jiu (不问三九)
A Certain Someone (某某) by Mu Su Li (木苏里)


Don't really have just one favorite author, but I'll list out a few that immediately come to mind:

Priest - multigenre and depth queen. Ironically, the only tag she hasn't tried on jj is baihe, but it doesn't mean that I don't admire the hell out of her. I love her prose, and I often wonder how she manages to tell a story with such a cheeky tone (courtesy of her protagonists, also my favorite would have to be Xuan Ji), yet the story itself is usually tragic + deep in every stretch of the imagination.

Yi Zhan Ye Deng (一盏夜灯) - the author of the current book I'm translating/editing. The more I read her the more I feel like wait such simple words shouldn't evoke such strong emotions within me, but with her, miraculously, they just do. I have (mostly) read every book she has produced and I love all of them with various reasons.

Liu Yuan Chang Ning (流鸢长凝) - baihe author holding down the north pole section of historical romance baihe. She's got court politics, jianghu, the lives of regular people... everything.

I have too many hobbies and interests so uhhh I'll just rattle off a few. Reading, drawing, music, writing, gaming, watching dramas/anime/donghua. I mostly lean Chinese media/games but anime like Frieren and Violet Evergarden also have my heart. Oh also I'm a Chinese history enthusiast and if anyone would like to climb through the Tang dynasty family tree with me I'll be happy to do so for the 3rd time.

I guess I mostly just want have fun and see everyone else have fun with discussions and whatnot, although I will note that I mostly avoid reviews for spoilers and to avoid forming opinions prematurely. Most c-novel/c media spaces lean heavily into danmei/ male characters which is completely fine and understandable but I definitely like lifting female characters as well, so if some would like to join me in that I'd be very happy.

I mostly lurk but I guess in some contexts I can be pretty expressive so I look forward to interacting with fellow peeps here in the comm. Thanks for having me!

[geraineon]

Hi hazy! Good to have you here~!

I'm currently also translating a modern baihe novel called If I Could Mail You A Book.

That's very exciting! Looking forward to reading it sometime (just looked it up! I'll add to my TBR). I hear you about picking favourites! It's hard to pick! XD Liu Yuan Chang Ning sounds like someone I should check out (court politics and jianghu, yum)

This comm does lean danmei (I hear you about c-novel/c-media spaces leaning heavily into danmei/male characs heavy too), but there is definitely enough varied interest for non-danmei (which is what I am hoping for which is why I made it general purpose cnovels including non-webnovels rather than danmei XD)

Feel free to check out older discussion topics and join in, and I look forward to interacting with you in the comm! And if you are up to it, feel free to claim an author to write an author spotlight for (see this post: https://cnovels.dreamwidth.org/11034.html)!

[llonkrebboj]

Hello everyone o/ I go by yjtc or just yj.

Currently reading a couple of things, all danmei or no CP on JJWXC:
1. I Got Crowned GOAT Writing BL Novels on Livestream (Scifi interstellar Zerg novel, just completed)
2. Delicate Charmer Lives Life Again (Xianxia rebirth, WIP)
3. Is Cuteness not enough? (Light scifi, WIP)
4. My Lord, You Mustn't! (Ahistorical period novel, completed)
5. I really won't be a good Emperor! (Ahistorical period novel, almost completed)

My favourite cnovels are Langya List (Drama adaptation: Nirvana in Fire), Bu Bu Jin Xin (Drama adaptation: Scarlet Heart), Daozi, Qing Dynasty's #1 Spoiled Brat and I think that first novel on my currently reading will be added to this list soon xD

I don't have a favourite author per se, but some authors I've consistently enjoyed works from are
1. Yi Shi Si Zhou (Little Mushroom, #1 Sugar Baby/Pretty Boy, C Language Cultivation)
2. Yi Cong Yin (Stigma, Phoenix Bone [Rebirth], Didn't We Agree On Disrespecting Shizun, Reborn as the High Immortal's Treasured Birb, etc.)
3. Three Thousand Great Dreams To Narrate A Life (Let Me Shoulder This Blame, His Highness Wants Me To Restore His Virtue, I'm Super Fierce! [Quick Transmigration], etc.)
4. Yan Songsong (Every work of hers lol. I've been here since her first xD)

My other hobbies and interests include reading cnovels in my sleep, while eating and in the bath (jk jk HAHAHAHA). I like reading about Chinese poetry and the history, translating, sleeping and reading ENG fantasy and biographies.

I would be absolutely thrilled and delighted to get recs of protagonists of delicate health, and to find fellow cnovel readers who like the same. This is my one BIGGEST trope requirement for reading a novel. If the main character didn't start out sick, they must at least be sickly by the end of the story. Otherwise 19/20 I WILL lose interest (it's a bit of a curse).

[geraineon]

Hi and welcome! Glad to have you hear~

It's fascinating how SF seems to come with Zerg so much of the time (or maybe that's just what I see, so it's all skewed XD)

I remember there are a few people in the comm who likes C Language Cultivation! And I too wish to be able to read in my sleep XD

Maybe if we sleep on the book, we will absorb the story and see it play out in our dreams (wouldn't that be nice?)

YES, I love sickly MC too. Have you read 年终's 送神? I'm pretty sure you've read loads more than I have since I rely on either fan tl or the existence of a audio drama, that's the most recent one that I've read that has a sickly protag.

[llonkrebboj]

Yes! At least nearly all the intersteller SF that I've encountered on jj have been
a) some variant of Omegaverse
b) Zerg
c) a blend of Sentinel and His Dark Materials
or any of the above with a dash of mecha for flavour. They're all so fun xD I especially enjoy the eldritch horror Zerg types - that may or may not have some influences from Alien - where the bottom is basically Queen Mother of the Zergs 🤣 LOL. One unique one had beings from western fantasy (mermaids, dragons, vampires etc.) as races occupying different regions in space, which was simply galaxy brained. Another kind of sweet one had anthromorphic planets.

Ok, stopping before I turn this reply into a ramble about jj danmei SF hahaahah.

I have NOT in fact read 送神 bc I had no idea it was a sickly protag one. But I'm also a big fan of their 末日快乐 / Happy Doomsday (one of my 19 favs on jj), so OMG yay \o/ \o/ \o/.

SUPER glad to find a fellow sickly mc bro in the wild! *shakes your hand* Let me update my list of novels for this trope for 2023 and 2024. Maybe I can share it in this comm?

...Probably sometime next month as real life work and irl commitments are absolutely consuming me all of Sep LOL

[dayadhvam_triad]

hi! I go by dt, dtri, dtriad, w/e works \o/

I'm currently reading... no cnovels right now, just the infinite backlog of longform articles & essays saved to my Instapaper account lmao.

My favorite cnovels are 全职高手/The King's Avatar, 桥头楼上/The End of the Bridge, the Top of the Tower, and 早安！三国打工人/Good Morning! Workers of the Three Kingdoms. Actually, I should amend my answer to the question above—I am rereading parts of 打工人. XD

I don't really have a favorite author. But I like priest's prose style, humor, and worldbuilding, and I'm impressed by 蒿里茫茫 Haoli Mangmang's execution of different premises and protagonist types in the few stories they've written within this historical transmigration sub-genre.

Other interests include (more) reading, translation, hiking, and history. I'm a lurker at heart, but I hope to see (& participate in :3) more discussion about cnovels that are less well-known and fall under gen or baihe, the art of translation, and cnovel trends/genres.

[geraineon]

Hi! Officially saying welcome to you here XD

Really enjoying all your thoughts on the translation post and I'm glad you're enjoying it too~

If there are other topics you'd like to see being discussed, let me know and I can put it up on the discussion friday posts (or feel free to start one!). The latest was an idea from douqi. And yes, I love to hear about non-danmei novels. My experience has been mostly danmei, some translated SF, branching out to gen webnovels (I finished TKA donghua and I want more).

[dayadhvam_triad]

Haha hello! (officially at last, after my random drop-ins here & there XD)

I hesitate to suggest this because I don't know how much conversation it could even garner, but I am curious about recently popular and untranslated cnovels totally not a thinly veiled attempt to learn the details of more cnovels—such as I Got Crowned GOAT Writing BL Novels on Livestream (which yjtc mentioned, if I'm guessing its CN title right), and 穿进赛博游戏后干掉BOSS成功上位/After Entering the Cyberpunk Game, I Killed the BOSS and Successfully Took Over (which a relative[!] in China recced to me as a runaway hit). Maybe it could be folded into a more general topic about what kinds of stories/genres get exposure via translation in English-language fandom.

Have you also read the TKA novel?

[llonkrebboj]

Ooooo hello, dtriad!!! Fancy meeting you here :P Thanks for the rec of 早安！三国大打工人. I have it lined up next after a reread of the Zerg novel xD

I haven't finished P大's Bridge & Tower novel yet - shelved it as it was updating last year and forgot to go back, but it had a /very/ intruiging concept. (I've always enjoyed her worldbuilding alot, though I think our taste in characters must not match very well haha)

The webnovel within a webnovel structure, and how stories affect fan culture, social media landscape, people and the zeitgeist is also a thing the Zerg novel plays with, and I really adore the meta nature it all.

[dayadhvam_triad]

why hallo there yj XD I hope you like 三国打工人 whenever you get around to it! I'm so desperate for discussion/meta about it that I've been going through the comments on each chapter as I reread (and learning stuff that I missed the first time through). Edit: fyi the MC Lu Xuanyu is not a sickly protagonist, just wanna be upfront about that given your trope requirement XD;

Funny thing is—I like a lot of things about priest's writing, and I do think my taste in characters/themes aligns pretty well with hers, but I haven't actually finished that many priest novels because I tend to get bogged down in the pacing of her stories. (I know, it seems ridiculous for me to say that considering 全职高手 and 早安！三国打工人 are, respectively, more than 5x and 2x as long as priest's longest work Tai Sui... lol) So I guess it's unsurprising that 桥头楼上 ended up as my favorite priest novel, packing so much into a compact punch of a story.

That sounds really cool! I've read very little in Zerg-heavy sci-fi, but I'm always down for meta-tastic takes /... adds to to-read list

[jiuyeqiying]

Hello, I just joined the community, you may call me Jiuye.

Ticking off the prompts as I go:
1. What are you currently reading?
In terms of new read, Imperial Uncle and currently chasing Chunbai Emo/Pure White Devil for danmei and 「Quick Transmigration」Supporting Female Lead, Please Calm Down! for het (It has a manhua going by the name Revenge Queen), a nonfiction about historical facts in Ancient China in regards to commonly portrayed customs/habits in similar fiction (Did the ancients already have teeth brushing habits?! When was hotpot invented? Are they already eating meat at every meal? It's full of interesting fact-check XD)

2. What is your favourite cnovel?
Too many to choose one ffffffffff If judging by rereads (whether complete/incomplete), anything by Priest, The Emperor's Strategy/DWGL for danmei, and pretty much any Jin Yong works otherwise (my history in Cnovel is relatively short, was more of visual media up until recently when I pulled my breeches up and forced myself to pick Mandarin reading up within the past 3 years)

3. Do you have a favourite author?
Usually would not pick one because I tend to judge by works, but authors who have several works that pinged me so far: Priest, XZX, Yiyiyiyi

4. What are your other hobbies and interests?
Gaming, writing

5. What do you hope to see from this community?
Translation resources because I'm still in pain over the last time I encountered a Li Bai poem in a work I was fanTLing with no pre-existing translation I could refer to online.

While not a book per say, I also recently finished watching Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty (which is loosely based on bizarre stories that happened during the Tang Dynasty and one of the MCs is styled as Di Renjie's disciple, yeah, that Detective Di XD)

[geraineon]

Welcome!

Ohh "a nonfiction about historical facts in Ancient China in regards to commonly portrayed customs/habits in similar fiction" < this sounds interesting. What's the title?

You're in the right place (I hope xD) for translations I think! Feel free to start any discussions about it, or let me know if you want me to do it instead!

I've heard good things about The Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty. Glad you enjoyed it!

[jiuyeqiying]

Title is "古人原來這樣過日子" by Prof Wang Lei of Northeast Normal University!

Please watch The Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, I need fellows to screech with uwu (strangely, S1 was region-locked but S2 was not...On IQIYI platform, if anyone is curious!)

[yueliangist]

hi all! i'm ada or yueliangist, and i'm rolling in from the baihe media comm (though i'm still learning how dw works so forgive me lol)

i've been learning chinese for 4 years now, though my abilities are...in any case, i was instantly hooked after watching the Zhen Hun liveaction and my initial goal for learning chinese was being able to read priest! i only started reading native stuff this year (2024) so i don't have a lot of stuff under my belt, even though i've read a few translations over the past few years

1. What are you currently reading?
currently i am reading 撒野 by 巫哲 and 一世清欢 by 无心谈笑 (though that last one not really actively)

2. What is your favourite cnovel?
i don't have one yet, as i feel i haven't read enough to really decide, but i really liked reading the TL for I Can Do It

3. Do you have a favourite author?
same as question 2, i have not read enough to decide ;w;

4. What are your other hobbies and interests?
i love all types of arts and textile crafts such as weaving and spinning yarn. other interests are baihe (as is obvious) and translation: i hope to help open up the baihe world more to others by learning to translate videos/audiodramas/webnovels (preferably webnovels). it has been my wish to learn to translate for ages, but i have been way too intimidated due to my skill level sighs,,

5. What do you hope to see from this community?
i hope to get translation resources and possibly cnovel recs!

[geraineon]

Hi, Ada! It's nice to have you here and on dw (if you have questions about dw, feel free to reach out too! I've been here for a while now).

It's really cool that you're able to read in Chinese now! And hm, I don't think you need to have read a lot to have a favourite (I feel like I am constantly collecting more and more favourites, haha). I love I Can Do It too (if you enjoy audio dramas, I really enjoyed the audio drama for that novel as well!).

There are a few translators at different levels of proficiency in the comm, so if you ever have translation questions or discussion topics you want to raise, all welcome~ I can either help you post the questions, or if you want, you can post them. I think it'll be nice to have more baihe translations overall.

c-novel recs is very common here, haha. I feel like every other discussion topic has some recs here and there. My TBR is already crazy long... what are your favourite settings/themes?

[yueliangist]

in general my favourite settings/themes are school/college life and fantasy! i really want to get into reading historicals and wuxia/xianxia this year

i also only read romance because it's my favourite of all time! i'm also curious about gaming novels!

my tbr is also crazy long HAHA i'll already be glad if i can finish my current read because i'm a really slow reader huhu

[amarylilac]

Hi! I am new to dreamwidth and hope to make some new friends in this comm:

A few things about me: Chinese (traditional) is my first language so I read every cnovels in Mandarin. I discovered the world of danmei around high school and has been reading them ever since!

What are you currently reading?

I have been trying to read more Taiwanese danmei because I just collected many recs a while ago. TWN danmei tend to be shorter and smaller in scale then CN danmei but there are also lots of different elements that seldom show up in CN works!

Up next on my reading list is 倦鳥之歌 by houseau3, which is apparently an interstellar and interspecies romance. I want to read it because I have fond memories about one of their short stories and even wrote a semi-review here.

What is your favourite cnovel?

Definitely Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin (不要在垃圾桶裡撿男朋友 by 騎鯨南去). Also, I want everyone to see this amazing fan animatic based on this novel!

Do you have a favourite author?

Not really…I like reading novels by a variety of authors!

What are your other hobbies and interests?

I enjoy reading in both Mandarin & English, and my favorite genre is fantasy. I joined dw recently hoping to motivate myself to write more.

What do you hope to see from this community?

I am looking for a place to share my reviews & recs and perhaps connect with some new friends!

[geraineon]

Hi and welcome!

There are a few other readers in this community who also reads in Chinese. I'd love to hear more about TW danmei and how they differ from CN danmei! If you're open to it, do feel free to post about your observations!

I'm gonna bookmark that fan animatic to watch (don't pick up boyfriends is one of my favorite too!)

Looking forward to reading your reviews & recs!

[fortworthians]

Howdy, everyone. I'm Fort, and I just joined Dreamwidth at a friend's recommendation. Lovely to be here!

1. What are you currently reading?
I popped into the bookstore the other day and grabbed myself a copy of Run Wild (撒野) by Wu Zhe. Haven't read much modern before, but I reckon I'll enjoy it.

2. What is your favourite cnovel?
Ballad of Sword and Wine (将进酒) by Tang Jiu Qing.

3. Do you have a favourite author?
Tang Jiu Qing. I'm excited for her new Baihe novel to release!

4. What are your other hobbies and interests?
I'm a big nature lover and my heart just melts for dogs!

5. What do you hope to see from this community?
Hoping I can get some new C-Novel recommendations outta here! I'm always looking for something new to read. Lovely to meet you folks!

[geraineon]

Hi and welcome! This reply disappeared in my accidental click on "Mark All As Read", so sorry for this delayed response!

I have heard lots of good things about Run Wild. It's something I want to read someday. Will be curious to hear what you think about it when you read it!

There's always people recommending stuff here and there, so you might end up with a long list of TBR like me, haha. If there are specific things you want recommendations for, do feel free to post a top level post, or use the recurring (biweekly) Free-for-all Friday posts!

[liliacs]

Hello, I've been lurking for a bit and decided to make an account and maybe participate a bit.

I like reading both danmei and baihe. I'm a Chinese learner and I've recently picked up enough to start reading novels in Chinese, so now I'm reading To Embers We Return. I really like it so far!

I like novels with a lot of plot and drama. I'm not a big fan of transmigration and rebirth, but I don't think they're always bad, they just often feel unnecessary and tacked on to me. I'm not picky about dynamics as long as they're well-done, but I do have a soft spot for age gaps that have the younger partner taking care of their tired older partner.

[geraineon]

Hi and welcome! Glad to have you here!

I do enjoy age gaps with the younger taking care of the older. Such a good dynamic! I plan to read To Embers We Return (will start probably when the translations get to about 20 chapters in). Looking forward to discuss it with you and the others who are reading it!

[croptoptux]

Hello? Still trying to figure this whole migration thing out.

1. What am I reading?
Currently nothing. I’m really bad at reading long text files on screens and since 7S fumbled MXTX so badly, I’ve been hesitant to purchase anything physically in English.

2. Favorite novel?
MDZS lives rent free in my brain. I’m trying to get through the JP translation, but I keep getting side tracked. I have some deep dives I’m considering reposting here, eventually.

3. Favorite author?
Too early to tell. I’d definitely like to peruse Legend of the Condor Heroes and some of the actual classics at some point—Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I haven’t really considered too many other danmei bc I’m looking for the warning label first. I’ve also heard some good things about the Sword and Fairy games.

4. Other hobbies/interests?
Translation. I am brushing off my old classical japanese and chinese text books so I can do research when I get side tracked.
Video games, and fanfic for said games.
Some fiber crafts.

5. Idk yet. Maybe some pointers when I hit dead ends in my research. My Mandarin isn’t good enough to even read 好餓的毛毛蟲🐛 with confidence.
One of these days I also hope to read all the classics so “you (generic) don’t have to”.