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I just finished reading The Untold Origins of the ADA light novel, I have some questions/theories about it.

So : fact is, Fukuzawa had no idea about his own ability in the book. Which makes sense, right ? His ability only works if he has people with abilities under his commands. So far so good.

The real question is : how and when did he discover his ability ?

Ranpo doesn’t have an ability, so there’s no reason for him to know at the beginning. If it’s something that he just felt the moment he had Yosano as a subordinate, then it’s just that.

But Yosano already had perfect control of her skill when she met Fukuzawa. She didn’t really need All Men Are Equal, not like Atsushi and Kyouka needed it to control their own abilities. Similarly, Kunikida (I suppose) probably already controlled his own ability pretty well - we didn’t get info about it in his novel, but really I see no reason why he wouldn’t.

MISVIL COVEEEEER IT’S SO PRETTY I CAN’T-

This is a subject I wanted to yap about since finishing reading The Disabled Tyrant Beloved Pet Fish, since it’s not the first time I see this and it bothers me a bit.

Disclaimer, SPOILER FOR BOTH ERHA AND TDSBPF

Ok. So. Tell me if I’m crazy or being disrespectful here, because this is really not what I want. And I’m open to debating with people who have a different opinion, just please be respectful 🙇‍♀️ But why do we vilify so much men (or women, but both cases here are men) who try to better their horrible personal circumstances, even if it means betraying people around them ? Specifically, I’m talking about Rong Jiu and Chu Yanyu. I couldn’t help drawing parallels between them, even if their circumstances are a bit different.

They have one common point : both have some sort of sexual/romantic relationship with one part of the main couple and are basically given the treatment of villains, even though they are mostly trying to survive.

For Rong Jiu, he was literally paid to sleep with Mo Ran for a long time. Yes, he betrayed him in the previous life, but he didn’t do anything this time, and more importantly they don’t have the same privilege at all. Rong Jiu was given the opportunity to have a better life than what is basically sexual slavery (he doesn’t have a choice of selling himself) by betraying a guy who perpetuates the horrible system he is suffering from by paying him for sexual relationship. Seriously, who wouldn’t accept ? He doesn’t own Mo Ran anything (as much as I love Mo Ran). Just because Mo Ran wasn’t violent with him doesn’t change the fact that he paid him to have sex. He died after Mo Ran stole all the money he made towards freedom, being betrayed, and his fate in death is to STILL be used as a sexual toy by men in a much higher position than him ? At least give him dignity in death. I think he deserved a lot better. And I get that it might be a critic to society, but the narrative clearly treats it like something deserved and funny when he STILL get betrayed and used at the end, which always made me uncomfortable.

Chu Yanyu is in a similar position. He’s not of high birth at all, and he fell in love with the 6th prince when he was younger, and is totally loyal to him and follow his orders. He hopes that in the future, they would be able to be together, even if he has to use his body for this. But, again, the villain here is STILL the 6th prince ? He’s totally manipulating Chu Yanyu, and yes he does shitty things, but it’s out of desperation. He doesn’t have any guarantees that he’ll survive if he fails his mission to seduce Prince Jing, and what is position would be if he does survive. Both the 6th and 3rd Princes, who are using him, always have their royal status to rely on, but Chu Yanyu doesn’t have that, he knows it and it’s clearly proven by the way the 6th Prince treats him after he fails : he slaps him when Chu Yanyu asks for help (yes to keep up apparences but STILL), the man he loves marry a women for the throne and basically ignore him after. Again, it doesn’t justify trying to drug Jing Wang, and I do understand that society back then has different standards, but I didn’t feel any satisfaction when he was forced to take and aphrodisiac and humiliated himself in front of everyone, I really just pity him, especially since the narrative do acknowledge that he is already feeling very much guilty about what he did. For this one, I haven’t read the fourth volume yet, so maybe it will surprise me by giving him an ending not too harsh, but I don’t have much hope.

To be clear those are not characters that I particularly liked when I was reading the books. Both annoyed me, but it doesn’t mean that I think they deserved what they got at all. Just because I don’t have particular affections to them doesn’t mean I can’t defend them when they get such unfair treatments (according the me again it’s my opinion).

ANYWAY could we stop putting the all blame on people who didn’t have much choice in their actions to survive and have a decent life and instead put the blame on the REAL villain (aka here the society that created the circonstance where people have to do these kind of things to survive and the powerful men who used them)

(KINDA IMPLIED SPOILERS)

(For context my favorite character even is Murong Chuyi)

This probably entered my top 3 favorite damnei for so many reasons. If you like angst and fated love, this is for you. And if you saw on social media posts about a main damnei couple waiting 3000 years for each other (and more than 1000 reincarnations), it’s them, and it’s SO SO GOOD I PROMISE. It’s not officially translated yet (the first volume is out in November by Seven seas !! I’m so excited about it now) but you can easily find an epub on Internet

SPOILER FROM HERE, from the beginning until the last chapter

I have many thoughts about this book. The first thing that comes to mind is the devotion of the two main characters. They waited hundreds of millions of years to be with each other, quite literally. Both are the textbook definition of being devoted. It might seems dumb to think about a stone getting a heart for someone else, but it works so well here. Find yourself a man who grew a heart and a conscience for you actually Song Qingshi on top fr ❤️. Also the fact that they both know each other so well ? Even when Yue Wuhuan tries to hide his ‘darkness’ from Song Qingshi after the whole ten-years-coma, Song Qingshi isn’t fouled at all and can clearly see that his mental state deteriorated, and he’s not angry at him. He just wants to help him get better. He’s allowed a little bit a murder, and Song Qingshi gladly helps him kill his rapists like a good boyfriend 💞 also love Qing Luan perspective who’s been asked to hide the ‘bad’ things Yue Wuhuan did from Song Qingshi except actually he knows and understand him still and is just relieved that there is a possibility to help him. And she’s like ??? why do I bother actually

Another things I REALLY loved is how the genre kinda switch at the end ? When you start it, you expect a normal transmigration novel, which I usually struggle to get into because there is no explanation about why this person from the modern world is in a book suddenly because they died. But here there is an explanation ? One that is totally reasonable ? And it makes the whole novel switch to a fairytale, almost. It’s not just a transmigration novel anymore ; it’s a fairytale about a phoenix regaining his power thanks to a rock that grew a heart for him. The whole novel is about Yue Wuhuan journey to return to being the Phoenix, and it’s done very well and so emotionally … and the fact that Song Qingshi lacking a heart at the beginning and not understanding emotion it what made him capable of saving Wuhuan, where other gods failed ? So beautiful.

It’s also a perfect mix of angst and funny, which is always a plus 👌 there’s moments that made me crack up for sure, which sometimes you don’t expect from a novel with such heavy themes

I know I’m not the first one to say it, but the subject of recovering from sexual abuse and living with the consequences of it is also very well handled from my point of view. It’s never skimmed or forgotten when talking about Wuhuan’s mental state, and the effect of it are clearly shown during the whole story, not forgotten ten chapters after the fact. It totally influence Wuhuan’s decision and his personality throughout the book. For good reason, it turned him colder and distrustful, and it’s shown clearly after the 10 years old coma with Qing Luan, who realise that he can’t just go back to being the generous, patient person who helped look after the children before he was sold. But Song Qingshi always is willing to help him, to try to make him feel better, and he’s always so patient with him and willing to indulge him so that Wuhuan could always feel comfortable and safe. He also never blamed Wuhuan for his more ‘dark’ actions or personality traits that are born from his trauma and PTSD.

Another thing I found really interesting is the whole concept of several worlds and of gods really being all-knowing and clearly living on another scale compared to humans. We don’t see any gods before the last chapter simply because they don’t interact with humans, and their lives are counted in millions of years ; the mere few thousand years that Yue Wuhuan’s soul was stuck in a human body can’t compare to their long lives, and is but a drop of water in their existence. Which makes Song Qingshi worries in the last chapter valid to me. Yes, they love each other, and it seems like a really long time to us, but Song Qingshi thinks that Yue Wuhuan only loved him for, what ? 4000 years ? Out of the millions he already lived, and all those years are linked to traumatic events one after the other, where he got dirtied against his while, raped, and watched the person he fell in love with died again and again. In Song Qingshi’s viewpoint, would we really blame Yeu Wuhuan if he chose to forget him ? Obviously it’s a bit different if you know that Yue Wuhuan has been waiting for him literately since he was just a rock, but Qingshi doesn’t know that.

Also, it’s interesting that the whole ‘gods are divine beings with access to thousands of different worlds and lives counted in millions of years’ is such a different perspective than most novels, like TGCF for example where gods interact with humans on a regular basis, and are former humans in their world (I’m not criticising TGCF at all, it’s just different)

Also I love love love Kong Muhua he’s a true icon and I love his relationship with Bai Zihao. Really really loved the moment where Bai Zihao managed to break free of his shitty ex-‘husband’ influence and mental chain, and realize that it’s not love, and can’t be love if it’s done by someone who coerced you and literally bought you. Really satisfying to see him kill his ‘husband’ by saying ‘and now I have a BOYFRIEND who LOVES ME and has a BIGGER DICK THAN YOU and FUCK YOU’, also Yue Wuhuan helping in his way someone else break free from this piece of shit is 🤌. Also he really tempted karma with this lie lol. But Kong Muhua being like ‘if I can’t seduce someone else I’ll just stop 🤨’ (or something I don’t remember the exact line) like it’s an evidence (AND IT IS OBVIOUSLY but not for Bai Zihao, who’s opinion and consent was never respected).

The flowers ???? Murong Chuyi, Jiang Yexue and Yue Chenqing ? THE BOAT ??? DO YOU WANT TO MAKE ME CRY ?

Very funny to me than the ‘three gentlemen’ ended up being assholes and antagonists (except Chen Tang), and the ‘three poisons’ ended up being good people (Murong Chuyi & Jiang Fuli being influenced in some way by black magic, Murong Lian redeeming himself). Special mention for the poor guy who’s both a poison and a gentlemen 💀

Warning : very very long post lmao

YUWU SPOILERS INCLUDING THE END (DO NOY READ IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED EVERYTHING GUYS INCLUDING THE BOOKS NOT RELEASED YET IN ENGLISH)

Ok so : first, this series is a MASTERPIECE. Why did no one force me to read it before ? WHY don’t people talk about it more ? This was so so good, probably my favorite damnei so far and one of my favorite book series altogether.

It has been a long, long time since a book made me feel so many emotions. I spent most of this year in a reading slump and only managed to go back into books recently, and this was so good.

First : the characters. I loved how they were all so well developed, even the secondary characters. Even when I hated them, Meatbun managed to make you feel all kind of emotions. I ended up actually liking Murong Lian even if I wanted to kill him at the beginning, I felt compassion for Yue Chenqing, I HATED Jiang Yexue, and I cried in a way I haven’t in a very long time for Murong Chuyi.

As for Gu Mang and Mo Xi, they were so tragically written. Two characters who just want peace and to be together, but have to give their all to their corrupt country, because they’re not just people ; they’re generals. The conflict of Gu Mang, who just want to love Mo Xi but is too loyal towards his goal : peace and recognition for slaves and commoners. His sacrifices for an Emperor who actively works against him. Mo Xi’s feeling and love that almost bleed through the pages ; all his emotions and his character tragedy. And even at the end, when Gu Mang was dead and he could have chosen revenge, he still choose to sacrifice himself for the world. Everything around them kept taking and taking and taking everything from them, and they still choose to be good at the end. They could have so easily become villains, and it would have been more than deserved, but instead they choose their paths. I have rarely seen two characters who deserved their happy ending more, and you can’t imagined how much I cried at the end when I truly believed that the book would end in a tragedy and that they wouldn’t ever be happy together. I feel like the ending is perfect for them honestly : even if they can’t be themselves, they’re happy, together, far away from a scheming court that took everything for them. Also, the fact that Gu Mang knew he was probably a member of the imperial family and still decided to hide it because he had decided to help the enslaved people ? He was a teenager at the time, and a slave. Everyone in the same situation would have said something to try and get better living conditions, but not him : he choose other people over himself, over and over again.

Except from them, my favorite character is without a doubt Murong Chuyi. I loved him when he appeared, loved him throughout the books, and loved him even more when the truth about him was revealed. I cried so much at his death : he suffered under Jiang Yexue for all his life, incapable of showing affection to his nephew, and still, he was always thinking about people, about how to do good in the world, even if it could never be revealed. And at the end, he tried to protect the cousin he never knew he had before. His happy ending was taken from him because of his kindness ; if he hadn’t been kind to Jiang Yexue when they were children, maybe none of that would have happened. The river of tears I shed over him were worth it, but I honestly would kill for his happy ending 🥲

Second : the plot. My god, the author was on fire with this one. All the plot twists, one after the other ? I went into this blind and only got spoiled Gu Mang blood relation with Murong Lian and Murong Chuyi, but this was WILD. Nothing is as it appears. Maybe I’m naive and rusty, but I really wanted to trust the Emperor or even Mengze. I did feel like something was wrong with Jiang Yexue, but I never imagined the depth of his depravity, to literally go all yandere on someone (I HATED HIM SO FUCKING MUCH OMG). And yes he didn’t know that they were half-brothers but STILL. Probably the only complaint that I have if that Mengze is not the girlboss I thought she was 😑 Why can’t we have a four dimensional, morally grey, interesting female character ? Is it seriously too much to ask ?

I honestly just read the seven books one after the other and can’t remember every plot-twist, but I know I kept being surprised about everything lol. I didn’t even cloak that Gu Mang was a spy until it was revealed lol I’m so dumb and ended up crying (again)(to no one surprise).