Guardian Novel Read-along!
Nov. 2nd, 2024 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trobadora
Starting 9 November,
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sid_guardian is hosting a read-along of the Guardian novel by priest. Each week we'll post a few excerpts to start things off. Feel free to pop in and join the discussion, whether or not you're keeping up with our reading schedule. Fans of the novel, the drama, or both are very welcome! We expect we'll talk about the adaptation and do a lot of compare-and-contrast.
What: read-along of Guardian by priest, starting with volume 1
When: weekly, starting 9 November
How much: two chapters per week
Where:
sid_guardianWho: all Guardian fans, novel and drama, as well as anyone who just wants to give it a try.
Themed Week: School Era Romances
Oct. 7th, 2024 09:42 pmhazeviForeword:
It's October and for most places around the world, school is back in full swing, so of course that means it's a good time to talk about school era romances in cnovels! I'll gush about why I love this setting and then discuss three novels in depth with representation from Danmei, Baihe, and Yanqing (BL, GL, and BG respectively) but the rest is up to everyone else if you want to discuss specific works, tropes, authors, etc.
——
( Read more... )
Danmei: Through the Straight Gates (过门; Guomen) by Priest
"The gay man gives toast to continued health and freedom."
( Read more... )
PS: if someone could double check the tags I've got that'd be great~
It's October and for most places around the world, school is back in full swing, so of course that means it's a good time to talk about school era romances in cnovels! I'll gush about why I love this setting and then discuss three novels in depth with representation from Danmei, Baihe, and Yanqing (BL, GL, and BG respectively) but the rest is up to everyone else if you want to discuss specific works, tropes, authors, etc.
So why school romances?
Because I love the descriptions of youth that undoubtedly will wiggle into these works. Going to school, especially high school and college, is such an important time during a person's life and growth. There's always complaints about how much homework we have, questions about the future, wishes to grow up quicker, just a little bit quicker. While in school, time goes by slowly and quickly; autumn leaves rustle as students bemoan exams; snow lands on the windowsill next to desks as finals are turned in. Spring comes with renewed vigor, and then students escape from school to listen to the crickets chirruping in the summer evening. Perhaps it's because I had a rather plain schooling experience (and marred by COVID as well) that I look to these works as a type of comfort. I also just genuinely enjoy reading about these characters growing up, sharing and relating to their emotions, laughing along when they joke with their friends, and experiencing their young love or first crush, no matter their gender/pairing type.
Especially in cnovel-land, individual stories of growing up, coming of age and finishing high school can have a very dramatic climax in that everyone has to take the gaokao (College Entrance Exam, one of the hardest in the world), and thus many fates and relationships are changed from that one test. There are also various other decisions like deciding which college to go to, whether or not to continue to get a masters in China with another brutal test (考研 kao yan), going abroad, or just having futures that don't overlap that serve as common 'conflict inducers'. I think that these generally embody why a lot of young relationships don't make it, so watching characters having the ideal ending is just satisfying (yes I'm shallow).
School romances also handily lend themselves to one of my other favorite tropes: reconciliation after a long time (the tag is 破镜重圆 po jing chong yuan). For example, a pair had feelings for each other in high school or college, but because of their respective futures/happenings of life/young attitudes, they break it off, only to meet each other by chance years later. When they realize that their affinity is not yet done and they can work on their relationship together, I feel happiness myself because yes, it's idealistic that people who had broken up would meet each other by chance, but the catharsis that I earn with their happy ending after the initial heartbreak is on another level.
Side note- this is slightly off topic but the official JJWXC tag for school/young love is 花季雨季 (hua ji yu ji), or the season of rain and flowers, which is very POETIC and fitting and I love it.
Anyways, now I'm going yap about three specific books. Do note that I had to agonize a bit over picking these three books and there are so manyyy other great books with school era romance elements that others can discuss. The following introductions/summaries of the books are mostly broad and avoid specific spoilers; however, everyone's spoiler threshold is different so please read/avoid accordingly.
Case Studies
Baihe: Her Mountain, Her Sea (她的山她的海; ta de shan, ta de hai) by Fu Hua
Case Studies
Baihe: Her Mountain, Her Sea (她的山她的海; ta de shan, ta de hai) by Fu Hua
——
"Being liked by a girl... would you find it strange?"
...
"Would you find liking a girl strange?"
"No."
"Then I don't think it's strange."
——
light trigger warning: mentions of misogyny
( Read more... )
Check out the 110% human translation that my friend auspice is updating here
And here is one the ending theme songs for the audio drama (it doesn't have an Eng sub version, someone remind me to make one someday)
Read the original novel here
Read the original novel here
Danmei: Through the Straight Gates (过门; Guomen) by Priest
——
"The gay man gives toast to continued health and freedom."
——
light tw: mentions of internalized homophobia
( Read more... )
The audio drama adaptation of this work is also great; here is the first season ED with English subs. Note that the lyrics are written very well and it's a tearjerker.
Read the original novel here
Yanqing: At Our Best (最好的我们; zui hao de wo men) by Ba Yue Chang An
Read the original novel here
Yanqing: At Our Best (最好的我们; zui hao de wo men) by Ba Yue Chang An
The web drama: With You; same name in Chinese.
——
"He was at his best back then, but I only became my best later; our entire youth divided our best times. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't catch up with that youth anymore, so I could only wave it goodbye."
...
"I suppose it was worth it for me to hold that 'grudge' for so many years."
——
I'll talk about the novel first, and then mention the web drama further along.
This particular novel is the most unique out of the three in that it is written from the first person perspective of Geng Geng, the female main character of the story, in online diary format.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Here is my favored theme song for Geng Geng Yu Huai with Eng subs
It has a locked, half finished online original on JJWXC, but it seems like it was officially published in print in its entirety.
It has a locked, half finished online original on JJWXC, but it seems like it was officially published in print in its entirety.
——
Anyways geez I've blabbed on for more than 2k words so I will stop here. Discussion of all school romance related novels are welcome, including series and the authors, and feel free to throw me recommendations as well! Hope everyone has a great day, and for those who are in school (including myself), hope you ace all tests, midterms and finals and enjoy your time in school~
Anyways geez I've blabbed on for more than 2k words so I will stop here. Discussion of all school romance related novels are welcome, including series and the authors, and feel free to throw me recommendations as well! Hope everyone has a great day, and for those who are in school (including myself), hope you ace all tests, midterms and finals and enjoy your time in school~
PS: if someone could double check the tags I've got that'd be great~
Author Spotlight: priest
Sep. 27th, 2024 02:32 pmmomijizukamoriThe end of September snuck up on me! But here's the author spotlight for priest, with a big shoutout to the priest discord server for helping me round up links and adaptation info :)
A prolific author in her mid-30s, known for writing across a wide range of genres. She's most-recognized for being a danmei author, but has also written some gen and boy-girl/yanqing novels. Common features of priest novels:
- novels are typically not driven by relationship conflict, and rather have some sort of main non-romantic plot that the relationship twines around
- as such, characters tend to get together relatively early but still have to deal with the main plot before they can have a happily-ever-after
- Gongs who cook
- Some blurriness around which character is the gong and which is the shou (including many shous who think they're the gongs)
- Her danmei novels are all labeled as shou POV, they're usually written in shifting third-person-limited POV which mostly switches between the main pair but with occasional ventures to other characters/events to build dramatic tension for the reader
- Lots of literary refs to both Chinese and Western classics, and language that is considered somewhat more complex/aimed at an older target audience
- Pets, particularly cats (particularly fat cats). The pets are all fine, I promise.
- relationship dynamics that skirt the bounds of propriety - age gaps are common, but also characters who met when one was a child, characters who were raised together as children, etc. To quote someone on twitter - the pseudo-incest is a feature, not a bug
- completed danmei novels so far are all happy endings (other novels vary)
If you like...
- scifi - Can Ci Pin or You Yi/Itinerant Doctor
- historical/court intrigue - Sha Po Lang, Qi Ye (in part)
- wuxia - Tian Ya Ke or Bandits
- xianxia - Liu Yao, Tai Sui, or Jin Se
- modern supernatural + mythology - Guardian or Lie Huo Jiao Chou
- crime/thriller - Huai Dao or Mo Du
- modern/coming-of-age - Da Ge or Guo Men
( Links )
review: Guardian by priest
Sep. 24th, 2024 05:54 pmshipperslistI read the revised fan TL edition that doesn't include the Shen San extra. My thoughts are here:
Guardian by priest
Guardian by priest
priest - 橋頭樓上 (traditional print + Q&A)
Aug. 25th, 2024 02:35 pmhalfcactusAs found on Twitter: some images of the traditional print version of 橋頭樓上 (literal translation: End of the Bridge, Top of the Tower, h/t douqi).
( Traditional print preview (cut for large images) )
priest also answers a question about the novel's style and format:
( cut for potential spoilers )
ETA: Reuploaded the images to Imgur so pictures should be viewable now.
douqi).( Traditional print preview (cut for large images) )
priest also answers a question about the novel's style and format:
( cut for potential spoilers )
ETA: Reuploaded the images to Imgur so pictures should be viewable now.
review: Silent Reading by priest
Jul. 30th, 2024 06:27 pmshipperslistIt took me two weeks to read because this book is Heavy. I enjoyed it and feel like (as for now at least) this is my favorite priest novel.
My review is here: Silent Reading by priest.
My review is here: Silent Reading by priest.
New Rosmei Titles for Pre-Ordering
Jul. 22nd, 2024 02:06 pmduckprintspressJust a quick note that I spotted Yiggybean has up two more of the Rosmei titles for pre-orders: You're Too OP! by Yi Xiu Luo (I'm not familiar with this one and it wasn't on my list of known Rosmei titles?) and Coins of Destiny, which is their chosen title for Liu Yao by priest. I'm assuming these are both just volume 1s. Pre-order by August 10th to get the Rosmei extras.
Yiggybean hasn't been great about advertising so I've been checking periodically, and spotted these today, so I figure if anyone else has been waiting, I might as well spread the word.
(I've ordered three Rosmei titles through Yiggybean so far, and received the first. The extras were minimal but nice, I posted a picture on Tumblr here. You can see all the Yiggybean listings for Rosmei titles here. They're the main US partner for ordering the titles.)
