fandoms and books

and then, two months later....

Yen Press announced at NYCC 2024 that its Ize Press branch would be licensing Villains Are Destined to Die, Semantic Error, and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint novels!

"so, what were the 1900s like?"

Concept: nie huaisang and jiang yanli as unlikely character foils. 

Both passive secondary characters with strong overshadowing brothers, neither Jiang Yanli nor Nie Huaisang were inherently lacking in intellect nor strength of heart. In a cultivation society where skills in spiritual practices determined worth and status, they had no stage on which to demonstrate their own talents nor an audience to appreciate them. Through similar forces of malice - the madness of war and the machination of man (i.e.: jgy, jgs) - they each suffered the invasion of their home, the destruction of their family, and the loss of a dear brother. Of course, their characters met very different fates in the end, but retrospectively, both Jiang Yanli and Nie Huaisang possessed the qualities which would’ve made them the perfect unsuspecting mastermind. 

I’ve been obsessed with @blondejaneblonde’s epic Scum Villain fic The Grand Unified Theory of Shen Qingqiu, where Shen Jiu IS Shen Yuan, they are both Shen Qingqiu, and they begin to build a beautiful romance (although being SQQ, they have no idea!) with Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge, all while trying to raise their little sheep disciple and fix the world of PIDW/SVSSS.

Ever since I got into danmei, I decided to take up Chinese painting again. Recently I found out about the Three Friends of Winter: the pine, bamboo and plum, a trio symbolising steadfastness, perseverance and resilience. I immediately thought of our trio and how well they fit: SQQ comes with a set motif, but Qi-ge fits the strong and sheltering pine, and LQG is the plum blossom: a striking beauty that can bloom in the winter and heralds the coming of spring.