F/Indonesia/INTJ/Gen Y. Fangirl of various fandoms of media (manga/anime, video games, books, TV shows) and hobbyist fanartist. My home country no longer blocks tumblr, but now I'm confused to censor my mature works properly.
Their marriage may have been arranged, but The King and The Queen of Xianle always believed that they were indeed fated. That's how The King never thought of taking a concubine, until one day Xie Lian had ascended as a god. Seeing that his only heir must let go of his worldly concerns, that also meant that his son must relinquish his status as The Crown Prince.
Xianle needed a new heir but The Queen with her fragile health has been declared unable to bear more. After all, the qianyuan king and zhongyong queen should not have been biologically compatible. When The King was desperate for a concubine, he found that his son's servant presented as a kunze (omega).
Rating: Explicit
Length: 271,209 words
Tags: TGCF fic, omegaverse, eventually fengqing, omega Mu Qing, Mu Qing-centric, milf Mu Qing AU, mpreg, slow-burn, long fics, series, heavy politic & historical references
Why NPAB Became “THE” TGCF Retelling Fic and Why That Kind of Phenomenon is Almost Impossible to Replicate Now
Let’s be honest: ‘No Paths Are Bound’ is still widely considered the definitive TGCF retelling. Fans used to call it “better than canon,” “secondary canon,” or “the one that healed me.” And for good reason, it delivered massive emotional depth, expanded side characters, and gave hualian the slow-burn angst many were craving.
But a huge part of why it became that “THE Fic” wasn’t just pure quality.
It was perfect timing.
The fic originally started as threads on Twitter (before it became X) and went viral there. It exploded right when the TGCF donghua was at its peak in 2021–2022. The tags #tgcf and #hualian were flooded daily, Twitter’s algorithm still favored long organic threads, and the fandom was starving for more pain, more devotion, and more exploration of trauma and redemption. NPAB rode that wave perfectly, and then migrated to AO3 where it continued to grow.
The Twit began pre-Elon's acquisition
Then Elon Musk acquired Twitter in late 2022. The algorithm changed dramatically, it began pushing rage-bait and controversial content while drastically reducing organic reach for smaller creators. What used to spread naturally through consistent tagging and community interaction became much harder.
The fandom condition itself shifted dramatically too. In 2021–2022, TGCF was extremely active, with thousands of daily posts on X, massive influx of new readers from the donghua, constant discussion and recs. By 2026, it’s become much quieter: AO3 fic creation rate has dropped significantly (from thousands of new fics per year to only hundreds), X tags like #tgcf and #hualian average only a few hundred posts per day (down from thousands), and new fics struggle to gain traction without external hype.
Proof of that shift lies in its related retelling, ‘To Wade in Darkness’ (TWID). While TWID was also promoted on X, it struggled to gain traction due to the platform’s current algorithm, forcing it to ride the legacy of NPAB instead. That legacy remains strong enough to generate decent engagement, roughly 2–5% of NPAB’s peak scale in terms of kudos and visibility, but it is nowhere near the same explosive growth.
The Twit posted post-Elon's acquisition (notice the decline of stats)
Let‘s check the kudos and hits ratio from each fics:
Besides X’s algorithm changes, we have to look at the fandom climate. When TWID came out, the MDZS fandom had already started to cool down. There wasn’t a massive influx of new readers anymore, Live Action adaptation ‘The Untamed’ (CQL) was already 5–6 years old, and the manhua and donghua had long been completed.
Compare that to the era of NPAB, which hit right when the TGCF fandom was at its peak heat, fueled by the massive hype of S1-S2 Donghua, anticipation of Live Action ‘Eternal Faith’ (which unfortunately got shelved), added with its sister’s influence of MDZS/CQL that was still pretty high. It was a perfect storm that is almost impossible to replicate in a stagnant fandom state.
This is ironic, in all honesty, because TWID is arguably better than NPAB in terms of quality (to be fair, its small number of chapters also needs to be taken into account (7/?), but it’s impossible to have any idea how many kudos and hits TWID might receive if it had the same hundred chapters as NPAB, so we can only wait for the author to resume updating).
The difference between the peak years (2021–2022) and now (2026) is night and day. Back then, a well-timed retelling could spread like wildfire because the platform, the fandom momentum, and the audience’s hunger all worked together. Today, even stronger works often feel like they’re arriving after the party has already ended. The window for that kind of explosive, community-defining fame has largely closed.
That’s the harsh reality of fandom:
Sometimes the biggest fics aren’t just the best written. They’re the ones that arrived when the algorithm, the fandom state, and the audience’s hunger all aligned perfectly.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting THE fic isn’t actually good. Beyond external factors like the algorithm or the specific state of the fandom at the time, its popularity is largely merit-based. The storytelling is solid and well-executed, which is a major reason it gained that kind of traction in the first place. Besides, NPAB got the standout premise. It offered a striking and immediately gripping what-if scenario: what if Jun Wu placed the curse shackle in Xie Lian’s eyes instead of his neck, rendering him blind? That single, bold divergence created an instantly compelling hook that reshaped the entire journey and generated massive discussion. In contrast, TWID lacks a similarly sharp, conversation-starting central twist. For example, while adding trans characters is meaningful representation, that particular element has already been explored by numerous fanfic writers in the fandom, so it doesn’t carry the same level of novelty or must-read urgency that a truly unique premise can provide.
But my point still stands because you don’t even have to compare it with other people’s work, for example: NPAB and TWID are from the same author. And personally thinking, TWID is improved in terms of quality, but unfortunately, it hasn’t received the recognition it deserves compared to NPAB.
If we want to talk about data, we can look at these calculations (per 02/28/26):
= kudos : hits
= 1,136 : 24,226
Simplification = 1,136÷1,136 = 1
24,226÷1,136 = 21,3
= 1:21 (out of 21 readers, 1 gave kudos, which means that if there are 56 readers, then roughly 3 people will give kudos).
To be fair, hits don’t accurately reflect the number of individual readers as they can be inflated by repeat visits, so let’s just treat this as a rough estimation.
In conclusion; despite NPAB’s significantly much larger exposure, TWID demonstrates a higher kudos frequency than NPAB, while NPAB averages only 1 kudos per 56 readers, TWID’s ratio of 1:21 means that at a similar scale of 56 readers, it would net approximately 3 kudos.
Nevertheless, with 24,226 hits for TWID versus 1,933,774 for NPAB, it’s clear that TWID has only reached about 1/80th of the glory that NPAB has achieved (or 1.25% of total NPAB hits). Besides TWID, the author actually have another fanfic with better stats (with 53 completed chapters) called ‘The Soul Remains’ (3,665 kudos/137,663 hits as I’m writing this). However, among all their works, NPAB exists on a whole different level that outshines everything else, not only amongst TGCF fics, but also across the author’s own works. This just goes to show how much hype timing + algorithm truly impacts exposure and fame.
What do you think? Have you also been feeling like your work is struggling to get the recognition it deserves lately? This could definitely play a part in that.
“Better Than Canon” vs “Better Than THE Fic” – A Double Standard?
Been thinking about how differently fandom reacts to comparative praise depending on what is being compared.
It’s very common for people to enthusiastically say that a certain long retelling fic aka. THE fic is “better than canon” — it gives more depth, fixes what they saw as flaws, offers catharsis, expands side characters, or makes the emotional beats hit harder. And that’s fine! AUs and retellings exist for exactly that reason: to explore paths the original didn’t take.
But the second someone says:
“I actually prefer this other retelling because it preserves more of the original tragedy, avoids over-redemption, keeps certain characters less softened, or handles conflict in a way that feels more grounded…”
…suddenly the replies can turn to:
“Why compare?”
“The first one is perfect as it is.”
“If you want pure tragedy, just read the original.”
“Don’t hate on it just because you prefer something else.”
I get it — when a fic feels like it healed you or became your personal canon, criticism (even comparative) can feel personal. But it’s worth remembering: fandom is supposed to be a space for multiple takes. If one retelling is allowed to be “better than canon” without apology, then another should be allowed to be “better than THE fic or the popular retelling” in certain aspects without being met with defensiveness.
Just a thought.
Curious if anyone else has noticed this pattern in your fandom too.
TGCF Meta: Does Hua Cheng Really Need a Mother Figure in His Journey?
So, I’m working on my TGCF fanfic and I’m right in the middle of Hua Cheng’s arc. While I was mapping out his journey to power, I suddenly had this thought about his character arc, specifically his mysterious, tragic childhood and that brutal Mount Tonglu transformation. As one of the most self-reliant and devotion-driven characters in MXTX’s universe, His backstory is a masterclass in resilience without external crutches. But I’ve seen some AUs insert a ‘mother figure’ into his journey, especially during Tonglu arc, and it made me wonder: is that necessary? Let’s break it down based on his canon characterization.
Spoilers ahead for TGCF!
Hua Cheng’s Childhood: A Foundation of Isolation and Self-Reliance
In TGCF canon, Hua Cheng’s early life as Hong'er is starkly portrayed as a cycle of abuse, neglect, and solitude. Born into poverty, he was bullied for his appearance and status, while his implied abusive parents served as the primary cause of his solitude. The canon emphasizes his ‘red eye’ as a symbol of otherness, leading to even harsher rejection. He survives through sheer willpower and fleeting moments of kindness from Xie Lian, who becomes his sole light and motivation.
Canon doesn’t give Hua Cheng a parental surrogate because his arc is about forging his own path from nothing. His devotion to Xie Lian isn’t born from familial love, but rather... a raw, obsessive loyalty shaped by isolation. Adding a ‘mother figure’ here could dilute that, because Hua Cheng doesn’t need maternal care to grow; his strength comes from enduring alone, which makes his transformation into Crimson Rain all the more powerful.
The Mount Tonglu Arc: Pure Survival, No Room for Nurturing
Tonglu is Hua Cheng’s defining moment in canon, it was a brutal, solitary trial where ghosts devour each other to ascend. Hua Cheng entered as Wu Ming (a fragment of his past self) and emerges as ‘Hua Cheng’ through raw power and unyielding determination. His ascent was a lonely journey within the Kiln; a painful rebirth where every bit of his power was carved out through sheer will, without any external help. No mentors, no family—just Hua Cheng’s willpower and lingering devotion to XL driving him.
Inserting a ‘mother figure’ particularly into this arc feels off because Tonglu is designed as a ‘fittest survive’ hellscape. It’s about isolation and internal strength, not bonding or nurturing. Canon shows Hua Cheng doesn’t need anyone here, his victory is proof he can rise from ashes alone. A maternal presence could make the arc feel less raw, turning survival horror into family drama which, while interesting in AUs, undermines the canon theme of Hua Cheng as a self-made ghost king.
So, Does Hua Cheng Need a Mother Figure at All?
From canon, no—Hua Cheng’s journey is about transcending his tragic origins through devotion and independence. His ‘family’ is found only in Xie Lian, not biological or surrogate parents. MXTX reinforces this: Hua Cheng’s red eye and abuse are symbols of his ‘cursed’ start, but he redefines himself without needing external ‘saving’ or nurturing.
That said, some AUs introduced a mentor-like figure during Tonglu, occasionally framed as a maternal or nurturing presence. Yet even when positioned as a guide or motherly ally, the dynamic rarely feels convincing in the context of canon Tonglu. The arc is so relentlessly survival-driven with ghosts tearing each other apart, no trust, no safety that any attempt to layer warmth or maternal care onto it risks clashing with the tone. A mother-figure meant to be soft and guiding would feel out of place amid the bloodshed and betrayal, thus the relationship turned almost inevitably reduce to something colder and more pragmatic, like a stern mentor at best, rather than the gentle maternal bond I had expected. After all, Hua Cheng never needed someone to hold his hand through the fire. He clawed his way out alone, and that solitude is what makes his emergence as Crimson Rain so striking.
Canon Hua Cheng’s dynamic with any potential mentor would never be one of simple respect or obedience. He isn’t the type to be a dutiful student like Lan Wangji, or any disciple in MDZS verse who is quiet, reverent, and rule-abiding. Hua Cheng is cunning, opportunistic, and fiercely independent. If a mentor figure existed in Tonglu, canon Hua Cheng would likely exploit them: learn everything he can, take what he needs, and discard the relationship once it no longer serves his goal. He would appear to ‘use’ the mentor for knowledge and power, not because he reveres them, but because survival demands it.
In my own fic, I wanted to explore exactly that kind of dynamic. There is a mentor figure during Tonglu: an old, mad ghost I currently refer him as ‘Crazy Old Man’ or simply ‘The Old Man’, he was a twisted deputy of Jun Wu who survived the Kiln longer than most. He teaches Hua Cheng techniques and survival tricks, but Hua Cheng never truly respects him. He listens, learns, and watches for weaknesses. The relationship is cold, transactional, and laced with mutual suspicion. No warmth, no trust, no maternal or paternal softness. Tonglu remains brutal: no one is truly safe, no one can be fully relied on, and every lesson comes at the cost of blood or betrayal. Hua Cheng emerges stronger not because someone ‘saved’ him, but because he took what he needed and survived alone.
This feels truer to canon Hua Cheng. He doesn’t need a nurturing figure to become who he is, he needs the fire of Tonglu to forge himself. Adding a soft ‘mother figure’ potentially risks softening the arc’s edges and making his rise feel less earned.
This is just my take on canon characterization, but I still love seeing how those AUs explore different paths! What’s your thoughts on Hua Cheng’s arc? Do you think he could benefit from more ‘family’ elements, or is his solo rise what makes him iconic?
#tgcf #hua cheng meta #tgcf analysis #mount tonglu arc #hualian
If you haven't heard, the em dash has been getting a lot of attention lately…
Because it was trained on pirated work—including freely accessible online writing (like fanfic, academic texts)—ChatGPT picked up patterns and quirks native to human writing.
Including (sigh) the em dash.
There are other victims here (RIP tapestry and delve 🫠), but the appropriation of the em dash—a punctuation mark beloved by writers everywhere—feels especially personal.
A kind of low-grade panic is ensuing. Writers who once memed their own em dash overuse—the greatest punctuation mark ever to grace the control-freak’s lexicon, frankly—are suddenly backing away to avoid accusations.
No. More. We have centuries of dash-abusing writers behind us. We will not sit quietly while AI repurposes our beloved stilted aside—or the just-one-more clarification the sentence demands—or the dramatic pause your comma could never—etc.
You don’t write like AI—AI writes like you.
Defend the em dash.
(Feel free to download/share/stick it where it matters!)
I like comments that I think other authors take as backhanded. Mostly "I don't usually read [x trope/fix type/so on], but yours caught my eye," type comments. Bc yeah same. This fic I'm writing isn't quite something I would usually have read before this either, but I'm glad that it's still drawing in readers who read similarly to how I do in that regard.
Comments that gently poke for updates/ask about abandonment too! I lose track of time in a major way, and they're helpful/measure if people still want to see what is next. Sorry it's been so long guys; thanks for the reminder, yk?
My recent fandom stats post about the numbers of kudos, comments, and other popularity metrics on AO3 works (and also word count and dates) is about to hit 4,000 notes (making it my second biggest post ever). Here are some things I’ve learned from the notes on this post (this got long, so I put a bunch of it behind a cut tag):
Some authors think AO3 is hard to post to compared to FFNet. (Mostly in terms of formatting, I think?)
Some authors think that AO3 isn’t as worthwhile to post fanworks to as FFNet because it doesn’t get nearly as much engagement. (Both this and the previous item are counter to my own experience of the two sites, so it was especially interesting to read these opinions!)
Some authors/readers think AO3 is intended mostly for archiving works (as a backup, I guess?), and that leaving feedback there is beside the point. (“It’s in the name!”)
Many (most?) authors love comments/reviews.
Some authors value comments but not kudos. (Paraphrasing: “It’s better to say something, even if it’s really short”, “kudos are just like facebook likes; they don’t mean anything.”)
Some authors value kudos only a little bit. Some of the same authors value kudos about equally with short comments that say something like “lovely!”
Some authors think kudos are less desirable than comments specifically because you can only leave kudos once.
Some authors really love kudos and think it’s a terrific system – they get more feedback because it’s much lighter weight engagement than leaving a comment.
Some authors value public AO3 bookmarks and read through the comments people make on bookmarks of their works.
Some authors value recommendations made outside of AO3 – sometimes even more than feedback directly to them.
Some authors value high hit counts even when few people leave feedback.
Some authors don’t like big numbers of hits without any feedback; they mostly value high kudos/hits or comments/hits ratios.
Some commenters get anxiety about leaving comments or don’t have anything to say and love the kudos button.
Some authors feel entitled to feedback – to them it’s fair and expected compensation for their work.
Some authors don’t update their fics unless they get a bunch of comments/reviews – they don’t see the point if there isn’t any demand.
Some authors are writing mostly for themselves and will post with or without feedback. But a bunch of these folks still find feedback encouraging.
Some readers only want to leave kudos or comments works that they find particularly outstanding… Some of them seem to feel their kudos is an endorsement with a lot of weight, and that they don’t want to water it down/make it less special by giving feedback on things they don’t really love. (Nobody said exactly that; I’m inferring, perhaps incorrectly.)
Some readers bestow kudos very liberally, on most things they read and don’t actively dislike.
Some people are angry/indignant if readers don’t leave feedback for authors – it’s seen by some as the reader’s role in a gift economy. Some folks will try to guilt/harangue others into leaving more feedback.
Some people are angry/indignant if authors feel entitled to feedback, or if fandom treats leaving feedback like an obligation.
Graphs = boring; angry rants = awesome. My stats posts really take off and get lots of reblogs after somebody uses them as a basis to write an angry screed haranguing fandom for something. Sometimes involving bad math and/or ignoring the caveats in my original post. (Note: I don’t actually mind that people prefer heated debates to unopinionated graphs… I kind of expect that.)
Even when I try to make a post not be specifically about popularity metrics – so that people ideally won’t feel bad about their own fanworks, and so that people won’t yell at each other – it’s really no guarantee that those things won’t happen. And you know, that’s actually okay; people can transform my posts however they like. (Except no bad math please. ;) )
I haven’t quantified any of the above observations, nor have I read all the notes on the post. (I learned the last time that one of my stats posts went viral that most of these people are really not talking to me, and don’t even know that I can see their conversations – in fact, a number of them think that the graphs are from some kind of organization that isn’t even on Tumblr.)
On this general topic, I surveyed a bunch of readers (very informally) a while back about when/why they leave comments on AO3 and what kinds of responses they hope for from authors… I’m still collating the answers and will report back eventually.
Hey everyone, happy new year's 2026. I realized it's been a looong time since I last posted here (like 3 years? ). Life happened—resigned, moved out, got married, got pregnant, lost the baby, got a new job far away from home and my hubby, and honestly, a lot of things changed. Tumblr feels like a different world now lol.
I still read JoJo, though! JoJoLands is ongoing, and I'm really enjoying it even if I haven't had time to write proper theories. Howler has that villainous potential that makes me excited—can't wait to see where Araki takes him.
Anyway, one thing I've been focusing on lately is my TGCF fanfic. It's an AU/canon divergence story (basically a "what if" version with some twists on milf Mu Qing and ‘chains of fate’ themes). It's got dark lore, whumps, rebellious characters, and chaotic dynamics. Actually, it was inspired by my prompt here.
If you're into that kind of thing (Dead Dove, mpreg + ABO elements), feel free to check it out—no pressure if it's not your vibe.
Link here on AO3
Thanks for still being around if you've been following since the old days. Hope you're all doing well!
Confusion in determining Chinese Dialect/Pronunciation of Character’s Name
When I googled "why native english writers often mistakenly mixed chinese dialect/pronunciation in naming characters?" The results of the search instead hilariously switched the subject.
Actually, I was curious about the further discussion regarding the similar topic from this video from Accented Cinema at minute 8:43
For example, having a character named “Fai” in a fanfic from TGCF fandom. FYI, TGCF is a danmei novel originally written in Mandarin by MXTX.
I don't know where the fanfic author got the name "Fai" for their OC, the info I got from googling is this:
According to google, “Fai” is a Chinese boys name meaning 'growth' or 'beginning'.
Then I got like two hanzi which are pronounced as “Fai”, 「 非 」 and 「 辉 」.
I always use wiktionary.org to check how every hanzi and kanji are pronounced in various dialects (I suggest that we as the writers to use that/or other better alternative in the future), and here’s the information regarding “Fai”:
In Mandarin, this 「 非 」 should have been pronounced as “ Fēi ”.
As a note, 「 輝 」 is a traditional form of 「 辉 」, and in Mandarin, this 「 辉 」 should have been pronounced as “Huī”. The writer accidentally mixed the Cantonese pronunciation into a fandom which its character names are mainly pronounced in Mandarin.
Another case is the name "Kuo" (still in TGCF settings):
The top result from Google said that “Kuo” is the transliteration of several different Chinese surnames, its meaning varies depending on how it is spelled in Chinese, and which dialect it is pronounced in.
in Mandarin, this 「 郭 」 should have been more accurately pronounced as “Guō”.
Actually it's nothing serious for me (other than just me being nitpicky), and if what the writers mean is to show the diversity of their characters in ethnicity/origin (will be relevant to their story), then that's fine.
Example:
Fei Yi was born in Beijing, but lived in Hong Kong long enough for him to know Leung Siufan and form a friendship that continues till these days.
But if that’s not the case, I think we’ll better pay more attention to this in the future.
Remember that Chinese language is not just “chang ching chong” noises, like my country, they also have many ethnicities and dialects. They have more diversity than what mainstream popular culture generally portrays.
I realize that most native English are likely still heavily influenced by Cantonese pronunciation regarding Chinese language, considering the history of Hong Kong which is often used as a main reference for popular culture in writing China (it was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island in 1841-1842).
My suggestion is, if you are still new to Chinese, when creating OC/character names, use the keyword "List of Mandarin Baby Names" instead of "List of Chinese Baby Names" if your universe settings mainly use Mandarin Pronunciation. Or if your story takes place in Hong Kong, use keyword “List of Cantonese Baby Names” for your character’s name.
Or pick any Chinese Name, get its hanzi, then check it on wiktionary.org to pick which pronunciation you like to use.
So that in the future, there will be no more “Fa Mulan” (Hua Mulan or Fa Muklan!?), and “Xu Shangchi” / Xú Shàngqì (徐尚氣) with his sister “Xú Xiàlíng” / Hsü Hsialing (徐夏靈).
Read Suggestion: tips for choosing a Chinese name for your OC when you don’t know Chinese by fineillsignup
So I want to try guessing the locations in TGCF are, which, although the names are fictional, are based on real locations.
Like Morioh and S city in JoJo which are said to be based on Sendai, Miyagi prefecture.
Before proceeding, remember that this is a fan-made and not a serious project either. This is purely headcanon so you are free to agree or disagree, if you prefer your own headcanon then so be it.
I think the TGCF storyline will be more in line with the fantasy map
Why do I think so? Because one of the factors is Pei Ming’s domain and the (supposed) location of Xuli in the north.
Based on the map I made above, if we follow the culture historically; Xuli Kingdom in Northeast China which Pei Ming is from is the territory of Manchuria.
And based on his character design on manhua and donghua, his appearance did not match with how the Jurchen people dressed.
Actually, I myself found a bit of a problem regarding the conception of Xuli Kingdom in the north;
First, the matter of Xuli Kingdom in the north being able to conquer Yushi Kingdom which is far to the south (of Xianle).
If you use a map of modern China, the expansion becomes a little ridiculous (not only a matter of area size, but also the difference in climate, terrain and so on and how the conquerors can adjust to them).
But this problem can usually be solved by using fantasy maps (if not based on modern map of China).
Second, Narrative logic (in my native language; this will be more accurate to be called “Cocoklogi”)
Why do most of us believe that Xuli is located in the north (corresponding to Pei Ming’s domain)?
Because Xie Lian as a martial god had his own country, Xianle as his domain.
And allegedly, Jun Wu’s domain as the former martial god was also his own country, Wuyong.
Pei Ming is the martial god of north who hailed from Xuli, therefore, Xuli kingdom is located in the north.
Actually, Xuli’s location itself isn’t really mentioned in the novel.
It is only said that the country once conquered Yushi which is far south of Xianle.
And Xuli was Jing Wen’s main domain!
The novel only said Jing Wen, not Pei Ming??
Jing Wen whose domain was in Xuli Kingdom (most of his temples were there) eventually lost his divinity as the country fell.
By the deed of his own deputy Nangong Jie (Ling Wen), as well as Pei Ming!
The same thing happened to Jun Wu and Xie Lian, as when their country fell, so did their godhood.
Now, think about it. If Pei Ming is willing to help Ling Wen destroy their own country…
If Pei Ming’s domain in the north is his own country…
Another interesting tidbit I’ve just found is the supposed location of Mount Tonglu.
At first, on my fan-made map, I put the location of Mount Tonglu (and Wuyong Kingdom) randomly.
Then I accidentally found this when I was reading the wikipedia page regarding Zhou-Chu War:
The location of Tonglüshan itself is more or less in this region (Huangshi):
Instead of being in the northeastern region, apparently it is located in the middle, more like to the east of China.
But the problem is, what hanzi does Tonglüshan actually use?
I then used a google search with the keyword Yangtze (Tonglüshan’s location) using hanzi and the result is in this video.
When compared with the hanzi used in TGCF, they are different:
绿 (Lǜ) “green” instead of 炉 (Lú) “kiln/furnace”.
Therefore, I'm not sure if MXTX created “Mount Tonglu” based on Tonglüshan in Huangshi. I guess, it’s highly likely that Mount Tonglu is simply fictional.
So I want to try guessing the locations in TGCF are, which, although the names are fictional, are based on real locations.
Like Morioh and S city in JoJo which are said to be based on Sendai, Miyagi prefecture.
Before proceeding, remember that this is a fan-made and not a serious project either. This is purely headcanon so you are free to agree or disagree, if you prefer your own headcanon then so be it.
I think the TGCF storyline will be more in line with the fantasy map
Why do I think so? Because one of the factors is Pei Ming's domain and the (supposed) location of Xuli in the north.
Based on the map I made above, if we follow the culture historically; Xuli Kingdom in Northeast China which Pei Ming is from is the territory of Manchuria.
And based on his character design on manhua and donghua, his appearance did not match with how the Jurchen people dressed.
Actually, I myself found a bit of a problem regarding the conception of Xuli Kingdom in the north;
First, the matter of Xuli Kingdom in the north being able to conquer Yushi Kingdom which is far to the south (of Xianle).
If you use a map of modern China, the expansion becomes a little ridiculous (not only a matter of area size, but also the difference in climate, terrain and so on and how the conquerors can adjust to them).
But this problem can usually be solved by using fantasy maps (if not based on modern map of China).
Second, Narrative logic (in my native language; this will be more accurate to be called “Cocoklogi”)
Why do most of us believe that Xuli is located in the north (corresponding to Pei Ming’s domain)?
Because Xie Lian as a martial god had his own country, Xianle as his domain.
And allegedly, Jun Wu's domain as the former martial god was also his own country, Wuyong.
Pei Ming is the martial god of north who hailed from Xuli, therefore, Xuli kingdom is located in the north.
Actually, Xuli's location itself isn't really mentioned in the novel.
It is only said that the country once conquered Yushi which is far south of Xianle.
And Xuli was Jing Wen's main domain!
The novel only said Jing Wen, not Pei Ming??
Jing Wen whose domain was in Xuli Kingdom (most of his temples were there) eventually lost his divinity as the country fell.
By the deed of his own deputy Nangong Jie (Ling Wen), as well as Pei Ming!
The same thing happened to Jun Wu and Xie Lian, as when their country fell, so did their godhood.
Now, think about it. If Pei Ming is willing to help Ling Wen destroy their own country…
If Pei Ming's domain in the north is his own country…
Wouldn’t it be the same as 'self-destruction'?
Keep in mind that Pei Ming ascended before his country (Xuli) fell (check his history in wiki).
Then logically speaking, it would not only be Jing Wen who would fall, but also Pei Ming himself!
If that’s the case, Pei Ming will not bother to help Ling Wen (maybe even trying to stop her instead).
Well, let's say if Pei Ming still wants to help Ling Wen because he likes her more than Jing Wen...
I think he will find other ways to bring down Jing Wen instead of destroying his own country (which supposedly his domain).
Thus, initially I was often inclined to think that Xuli is right next to Yushi, but not north of Xianle either. Something like this instead:
Let's use another cocoklogi (narrative logic); after Xie Lian fell, the next martial god to ascend was Mu Qing.
By that time Xianle had fallen and was replaced by the kingdom of Yong'an. Mu Qing ascended by cleaning up the remaining resentful spirits that roamed in the old capital of Xianle.
Let's say that he was technically inside the Yong'an Kingdom at that time (former Xianle).
Then shouldn't his domain be told in Yong'an instead of Southwest?
Jun Wu and Xie Lian were the Crown Princes, perhaps that's why their domain was their own Kingdoms.
But for others, it doesn't have to be the case.
Although there is few exception; Lang Qianqiu was the Crown Prince of Yong'an who ascended 300 years ago.
As he ascended, the kingdom of Yong'an still existed up to Banyue-Pei Xu’s time (200 years ago prior to present).
Why is Lang Qianqiu’s domain is being called in the east and not Yong'an? (or perhaps there had been a change since he ascended to the present time which did not make it to be mentioned in the novel).
TL;DR
This is why I'm a little skeptical about Xuli country in the north.
How does one get better at fighting with a sword? I have a female character who was formally trained in swordfighting (being a noble heir) though she has a lot of room for improvement. I want a timeskip in which she trains and afterwards (is 6 months reasonable?) she is challenged by a pirate captain who has years of experience and talent in combat. She is going to lose and he isn't aiming to kill her. How would the fight play out realistically?
Realistically? She won’t kill him, her guards will. (She won’t even get close to him and his challenge is meaningless.)
This is the most important thing to remember: a female noble heir is the social and economic future of their household, if your pirate captain takes her then he gets to claim her which is the equivalent of stealing Alabama, Alaska, or California. Now do you think for a second her guards or her family will allow that to happen? (The answer is no.)
If you’re using pirates, then you’re probably pulling from the Golden Age of Piracy for inspiration, so between 1650 and 1726. It’s important to remember than aristocrats in any period before the 19th century were not decorative. Today, we (Americans especially) have a habit of confusing the echoes for the gunfire. We view the nobility and royalty like CEOs and other really rich people instead of what they really were: warlords, an important part of their nation’s command and control structure. Nobles were taught to fight because they needed to be capable of defending themselves from the peasantry, from other nobles, and from attempts at political assassination. Your heir is probably living in a period where she is expected to know how to fight because someone else is going to try to kill or kidnap her. While we’re talking about a period in history where the importance of the nobility was ending, it wasn’t there yet. Fencing as recreation hadn’t quite taken hold yet and your heir’s education is going to be for realities of the world she’ll be facing. This is also a period in history when training with live blades was not uncommon.
Nobles engaged professional swordmasters as members of their households to teach them and their children. Your girl is likely to have had a fencing blade in her hand by the time she was six years old, the standard training age for an aristocrat. It’s likely she was trained on a variety of weapons, but depending on your time period her main sword is likely to be either a rapier, an epee or another variant of smallsword, all of which will turn your pirate captain into Swiss cheese before he can say “what’s that?”. She’ll possibly also know how to use a longsword (still saw battlefield use) or a heavy saber (as opposed to the later lighter version of the fencing blade) as a cavalry blade, she’ll have been trained to use it from horseback in case she was ever called to military service by her monarch. If her family employs a professional duelist to fight for her father or mother in case of another noble challenging the family, she might have also trained with them. If her family doesn’t have the money or the family patriarch prefers to handle to duels themselves, it’s likely she was grilled by them regularly. As the heir, she’ll be under direct scrutiny from whichever figure is managing her education and training to ensure she can do her job when she eventually inherits management of the household/estate.
The problem here is that you’re thinking about this in terms of her not having any practical combat experience and conflating the 18th and 19th century nobility with the 16th and 17th century is a terrible, if common, mistake. Unless your pirate captain is a former member of the gentlemen class or noble class then the weapon he’ll be using is likely to be the cutlass, which while a fantastic weapon for boarding actions, is horribly outmatched by both the epee and the rapier when it comes to dueling. They’re both longer (reach and speed advantage) and faster (substantial speed advantage) and in the hands of someone who knows how to kill with them. Weapons are a great equalizer, your heir doesn’t need to be exceptional to kill him, she’ll be armed with the better weapon for the situation and has the knowledge to know how to use it in practical combat. Even if she’s armed with a longsword, she’ll win.
Here’s your first real issue: you’re conflating all types of combat experience together while ignoring the separate skill sets and types of experience. A pirate captain is going to be experienced in ship to ship combat and boarding actions, his exceptional talent is the handling of his crew and his ability to command. This is what he needs to be good at in order to maintain his position. Dueling is not going to be his focus, he may excel at dueling other pirates both with pistols and with swords but the question is who is he dueling? The caliber of your opponent does a lot to enhance skill, so does having the luxury to devote the necessary time to developing that skill. A boarding action is a mass melee, it’s not a duel. Even if he’s used to fighting multiple enemies, it’s going to be in fighting back to back with the support of his crew. His most common opponents are going to be other pirates, most likely drunk pirates, while on shore leave. This doesn’t leave him a lot of time to come up with the skill necessary to hand a noble their ass in a one on one. A duel with your heir is going to end up looking a lot like Edmond Dantes’ first duel with Ferdinand in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). Your pirate is Dantes, she’s Ferdinand and she’s got less reason to play nice. (It’s worth noting Ferdinand isn’t even considered an exceptional duelist and, at this point in the movie, he’s just got the advantage of his training.)
Now, he could be a former naval officer or son of a merchant with a business in overseas trade. However, this would mean he comes from either a wealthy merchant family or the middle/upper class. At this point in history officers were still expected to buy their commissions which meant ships were largely commanded by the rich/gentlemen and the sailors/grunts were pulled from the poor/uneducated.
The second issue: Heirs are incredibly valuable, incredibly valuable. Female ones especially because they are the means of carrying on your bloodline. A lot of effort and work by the head of the household goes into the heir because they are the economic and socio-political future of the family. Heirs are not allowed to engage in the same sort of risky business that a second or third child can get away with. A fairly decent modern comparison is Prince William versus Prince Harry, both are in the military but only one gets to fight on the front lines. Now, you can disinherit the heir to ensure that their progeny/new husband cannot claim their titles and lands but you lose all the effort that went into them in favor of (what is likely to be viewed as) a substandard second aka the spare. So, again, it would be like stealing Alabama and she doesn’t have the free time to run off for a weekend cruise with a strange man unless she’s intending to throw away everything anyway (and no one is going to let her).
Second to the Family Head, the Heir is the most well-defended member of the family. They’re not getting out of the house without an escort, these men (and women) will be among the most loyal and skilled men (and women) the house has at their disposal. She’s not going to go anywhere without them and has probably known them (somewhere between four to six) all her life. They may know her better than her parents do, they’re always there, and they will defend her with their lives. Not being a noble, your captain has no ability to challenge her directly even if she challenges him. He is going to have to go through them to fight her and they aren’t going to bother with a duel. They’re not going to fight him one on one, they’ll fight him together. He’s outnumbered and fighting better trained opponents (it’s going to be either three on one with one guarding the girl or four on one with two guarding the girl), so he’s dead.
It’s important to remember that a bodyguard’s job is not to do what their protectee wants, it’s to do what is best for them and ensures their safety. It’s their job to keep them alive, not to keep them happy. She’s not the one paying their salary, her parents are, and even if she was it wouldn’t make a difference. While her guards are fighting him, the other one (or two) will hustle her somewhere else to keep her safe.
Third Problem: In attempting to take her anywhere, he has shown he means her harm. Whether it’s to kill her, ransom her, or claim her as his wife is irrelevant, whether he actually intends any of those things is irrelevant. From her perspective, that of her family, and her guards, he intends her harm and if she’s forced to fight him then it will be to the death. Remember, these are threats she faces from the other members of her country’s nobility. She’s primed to respond to any threats to her person with deadly force and so are her guards, all of whom are likely to face much more talented combatants from their own class than the pirate captain. She has a vested interest in being better at combat than him and she will be because nobles are not sheltered fragile flowers who have the luxury of using money instead of force to protect themselves. The French Revolution was successful because of the number of peasants and the willingness to bury the aristocrats in bodies (which was what it took). It wasn’t because they were better warriors.
Let’s Recap:
Do Not Steal California: Heirs are valuable and important people, stealing them is a lot like stealing the ownership of a state. Lots of people are bound to try it and there are reasons their families take steps to ensure they won’t succeed.
A Rapier or Epee versus a Cutlass: both weapons have a reach advantage over a cutlass and are much, much faster. The pirate captain’s brain will not be used to fighting at it’s speeds and in a single unarmored bout, it will be over in one or two hits. In fact, historically the epee is so fast that it resulted in multiple double suicides during duels which is part of the reason we switched to fencing with blunted blades.
Nobles Are Not Decorative: Unless we’re discussing nobles in the 19th (excluding Russia), 20th, and 21st centuries then an aristocrat’s position was fraught with danger. Even in the 18th century when they were heading toward being obsolete, nobles were very dangerous individuals who faced a great deal of danger in their everyday lives both from the peasantry and members of their own class.
Depending on Context All Combat Experience Is Not Created Equal: while there were pirates who were very skilled duelists this was usually a skill they cultivated during the time before they became pirates (as members of the gentry). Pirate Captains needed to be skilled in naval combat, interpersonal skills, leadership, and other skills relating to raiding, theft, and seafaring leaving little time to focus on skills unnecessary to their general lifestyle.
Where the Heir Goes, The Guards Follow or Lead: A noble’s guards are never far away, they travel in packs and it’s their job to defend their master from harm. Getting through them to the protectee isn’t easy and the protectee is unlikely to thank you if you do.
Swords are made for killing: intentions are great, but swords are made for killing. The better the opponent, the less likely the option of not killing. With faster weapons, it becomes very easy to kill accidentally or a wound may become infected leading to death.
Think Leia, Not Gossip Girl: I didn’t actually throw this one out there in the above, but personality wise, you’re better off looking at Princess Leia (especially Leia from A New Hope) as opposed to modern day rich girls like Blaire Waldorf and Serena Vanderwoodsen. Think about Leia’s response to Han and Luke’s rescue attempt on the Death Star, particularly the part where she takes charge and shoots the Stormtroopers. Feisty yes, but also intelligent and capable of taking care of herself. They provide her with the opportunity to escape, but she’s more than able to act for herself when the moment comes and patient enough withstand the indignities and torture inflicted on her by Vader and Tarkin to wait it for it. She’s also all business once she gets out and is much better at providing direction than the boys are at finding it.
In short, he’s dead.
A solution: as fun as the concept of the Princess and the Pirate is most of your problems could be solved by removing the heir part from the equation. If writing a lazy layabout who isn’t interested in real work is your angle with this character then it’s best to go with a member of the family who has the unfortunate luxury of being a strain on finances simply by virtue of their birth. The third child or a bastard the Father/Mother/Family Head refuses to get rid of who gets all the privileges, none of the responsibility, and who the family doesn’t care enough about to take an active interest in their protection or their training will have a much better shot of doing what you want without all the messy complications. They also have a much, much better shot of being in a place where they and the pirate will actually cross paths. Younger children have a much higher likelihood of leaving the country to seek their fortunes or being in less savory places. (Do not have the pirate break into their house, homefield advantage is huge and estates/castles are designed to be deathtraps for invaders. Don’t do it, you can’t have a fight there without drawing twenty or more guards.)
A solution to the sword problem: they’re drunk. Your character is at a low point in their life, they’re in a bar feeling their failure, and they’re drunk when they challenge the pirate. This gives the pirate the luxury to feel sorry for them, you can subtly handicap their actual skill level, and give them the opportunity to grow as a person and a combatant without jeopardizing all the advantages a noble has access to.
Some Reading Suggestions/Historical Figures:
Julie La Maupin: The life of Julie La Maupin could quite literally fill any swashbuckling novel to rival the tales of Alexandre Dumas, her stories however have the advantage of being real. This brash, deadly, bisexual cross-dressing swashbuckler bucked the times and society to carve her own way in 1600s France.
Gurps: Swashbucklers, Roleplaying In The World of Pirates and Musketeers: The Gurps books tend be great reference material and this one is a great overview of everything you need to write about pirates and swashbucklers. It covers the history surrounding pirates and musketeers, the notable historical figures, the socio-political climates of the times, and pretty much everything else you’re going to need to build your setting.
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. While not a book about pirates, this novel (and the others by Dumas) will be helpful for getting into the frame of mind to write about swashbucklers and nobles. It gets closer to a period when the nobility was still considered relevant and treats them that way.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy (1903), the foundation for superhero literature and secret identities, this is the novel that inspired Zorro and subsequently Batman. It follows the adventures of wealthy Sir Percy Blakeney in his adventures rescuing individuals sentenced to death by the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. In England, Percy presents himself as a dim fop to throw off suspicion that he (along with a band of merry friends) is the Scarlet Pimpernel, daring escape artist, master swordsman, and outside the box thinker. If nothing else, it’s a fun adventure novel read.
The Errol Flynn Collection: The Seahawk and Captain Blood especially, but I suggest a general review of the Golden Age Swashbuckling films.
The Mask of Zorro, The Count of Monte Cristo, anything with fight scenes choreographed by Bob Anderson for the spectacular sword work which may give you ideas.
Wikitenaur: pretty much the best resource for historical fighting manuals if you want to go outside modern fencing to get ideas for your fight scenes. You will have to slog through some older language, some of the manuals come with plates and translations. Others don’t.
Get a manual on fencing. Even if you don’t plan to take up fencing yourself, a manual for beginners will be helpful for getting the basic ideas and terminology down.
While I wouldn’t recommend Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for it’s historical accuracy (cringeworthy, especially the way it messes with and reduces the awesomeness of some very incredible historical figures) or it’s combat accuracy (also cringeworthy), it’s ship combat is a lot of fun and may help you get into the right mood for when it comes to the fun side of pirates. This depends if you want to shell out for the price tag. The same is true of Pirates of the Caribbean. Decide what pirate theme you’re going with, compare Jack Sparrow with Peter Blood for reference and do some research into historical figures to help you with your captain. If you’re doing a gender equal setting, feel free to research and export the considerations for male nobility onto your female noble.
your mu qing meta!!!!!!!! asdfghjkl idk what to say so gooooood!
because im obsessed with tgcf, do you hv any thoughts on the "mc meets love interest when he's a child" thing wrt hualian?? and it's resulting meanings or implications or whatchamacallit???
ty anon I’m flattered you enjoyed that prolonged train wreck of a post!!
hmmm... I mean, the unique thing about hualian meeting each other so early on in their lives is that for most of their relationship development, Xie Lian has no goddamn idea that Hua Cheng was also Wu Ming, was also the ghost fire, was also the nameless soldier, was also Honghong’er, so like, the significance of the two of them meeting really only exists on Hua Cheng’s side of the relationship
and on Hua Cheng’s side of the relationship, that’s what makes his character so fascinating, isn’t it? for him, Xie Lian is his religion, his guiding light, his greatest love, his driving obsession--and from that, Hua Cheng derives not only his will to live, but also self-improvement, self-betterment, until he has literally become the most powerful entity under heaven, all because he loves Xie Lian
they meet when they’re both rather young, sure, but it’s not your typical 青梅竹马 childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship because the relationship is so one-sided; Xie Lian treats a young Hua Cheng like he’d treat anyone else, and Hua Cheng, who is so starved of affection and kindness, decides to repay that with everything he has and more
so I guess the significance of their meeting is less about what that means for their relationship, and more about the continuous thematic thread in TGCF about the importance and worthiness of unthinking kindness. It is precisely Xie Lian’s benevolence that both rescued Hua Cheng from his disillusionment with life and inspired him to achieve, as well as the benevolence of a nameless passerby with a straw hat that brought Xie Lian back from the brink and averted a calamity (two, if you count what Xie Lian might have become)
So I want to try guessing the locations in TGCF are, which, although the names are fictional, are based on real locations.
Like Morioh and S city in JoJo which are said to be based on Sendai, Miyagi prefecture.
Before proceeding, remember that this is a fan-made and not a serious project either. This is purely headcanon so you are free to agree or disagree, if you prefer your own headcanon then so be it.
First, regarding the location of Mount Tonglu (Wuyong), I was looking for a map showing the locations of volcanoes in China and found this:
However, I didn't really check the history of these mountains, so I more or less made up the location of Mt. Tonglu here:
The map above is for the event circa 2000 years ago, since volcano eruptions by a single mountain was capable to buried the entire Wuyong kingdom, it made me think that Wuyong's territory wasn't that big.
Besides that, I was inspired by the "No Paths Are Bound" fanfic which brought Xianle into the history of Wuyong. Moreover, it was mentioned that for the people of Wuyong, they tried to invade other kingdoms to take over their land & have their people move in. Thus, I’ve made Xianle and Xuli bordered Wuyong.
Most readers believe that Xuli was located in the north, considering Pei Ming's domain (although I don't think it really has to be, because Xuli kingdom had already fallen during present time which I think, its location is no longer necessary where).
There is also Zhaoyi, my made up kingdom for my fic (therefore, not canon). I was inspired by the timeline of the Xia dynasty era where the royal territory was not as big as during imperial era, so I also made Xianle’s territory quite small as well.
Generally in every dynasty there is always territorial upheaval which often ends with one dynasty overthrowing another. In this fanfic of mine, I want to make sure that the Zhaoyi kingdom will be absorbed by Xianle. Yong'an itself was part of another country in the past which will be taken by Xianle.
The old capital of Zhaoyi is Qiyi. Qiyi itself is actually the old name of Qishan. Again, I got inspired by NPAB to incorporate MDZS’ places in TGCF. The name 'Zhaoyi' itself is taken from the history of Qishan County in the Spring and Autumn period during King Wu’s reign (Zhou dynasty) as one of its state; Shao (召 or 邵).
Regarding Lang’er bay location, I’ve made it based on Qinghai lake. Wait a minute, why the lake? Isn’t it a bay? The initial fan-made map is correct in seeing the concept of Lang'er bay as a ‘truly bay’. But I want to match the location of Lang'er bay to the map of China, which according to TGCF, located to the west of Xianle. The problem is, to the west of China there are no bays! Therefore, I tried to redefine the word 'bay' and I came up with this:
Thunder Bay! According to wiki, Thunder Bay is a large bay on the northern shore of Lake Superior, in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada.
In addition, in Qinghai Lake itself there is a spot called “Fairy Bay Area”.
Years later, Wuyong had fallen, its territory was absorbed by Xuli. Xianle itself was expanding its territory and managed to seize part of Zhaoyi's. Zhaoyi moved the capital in unknown location (presumably around Yong’an, which still belonged to said kingdom). Also, moving the capital was a common thing to do since a long time ago.
During this time, Banyue and Yushi were found. It is noted that Banyue was located around Gobi desert and Yushi was a kingdom far to the south of Xianle. The blank territory between Xianle and Yushi can be filled with any random countries.
As time went by, Xianle and Xuli were keep growing. The Zhaoyi Kingdom finally fell and Yong'an officially became a part of Xianle. Despite that, some remnants of Zhaoyi still exist as autonomous zone led by rebels.
Circa 800 years ago, Yushi eventually fell and became part of Xuli's territory. You can see how ambitious Xuli country was back then (like the Mongol empire). Xianle itself began to clash with Xuli and managed to seize part of its territory. However during this tension, Banyue took its chance to absorb the autonomous zone of Zhaoyi. More places are revealed.
Less than a decade later, the fall of Xianle happened as a result of the civil war with the Yong'an rebels. Feng Xin mentioned that Yong'an obtained help from other countries secretly. Thus, given the tension between Xianle and Xuli, I presumed that it was Xuli who was secretly helping Yong'an (and also some of the rebel descendants of Zhaoyi who held grudges against Xianle). Actually some of the Xuli people prayed to Pei Ming, but Pei Ming paid no heed, considering that King of Xuli at that time made him break his sword.
During this time, there was a new dynasty that was starting to grow which would become the home country of Shi Wudu, Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan.
The decline of Xuli was starting to happen, as Yong’an and the unnamed country absorbed some of its territories. Yushi's region was eventually taken over by the unnamed country. Yong'an itself became a bigger country than Xianle, its territory reached the eastern edge (which would become Lang Qianqiu's domain later).
The location of Mount Yujun is revealed. Mount Yujun itself is said to be in Pei Ming's domain (north), because we already believe that Xuli is in the north, then Mount Yujun itself is located in Xuli.
Xuli had finally fallen while Banyue itself kept growing. Ling Wen and Pei Ming were responsible for the fall of their own kingdom (lol), I thought the latter agreed to participate because he saw how corrupt his nation had become. Xuli is then divided into several countries which I don’t bother to name and set the regional boundaries.
Circa 200 years ago, Banyue eventually was eradicated by Yong’an. Some years ago (it was not necessary to coincide with the fall of Banyue), the Black Water Demon Lair was discovered. According to TGCF, Black Water Demon Lair is located in the South Sea.
In the southern part of China there is a tropical island called Hainan, a place that I think is suitable for Black Water Island. In the middle of Black Water Island, there is Black Water Lake, and coincidentally:
On the island of Hainan there is also a lake. In the middle of the lake, there is also a small island that I actually wanted to make the location of the Nether Water Manor on, but I just remembered that the manor is like being in separated dimension (iirc underwater inside the lake).
Finally, Yong'an nation also fell and was divided into several countries (which again, I careless to name and set their territories). More places relevant to the plot are revealed (including the MDZS’ one as a tribute to NPAB). In the end, the largest country is Shi Qingxuan’s unnamed country (lol), and also in the Himalayan region there are several unnamed countries.
Interestingly, in the present timeline of TGCF, there aren’t named countries that are still standing.
Specifically below is a map showing the domains of the martial gods:
The domain divisions are purely made up and not based on regional divisions used IRL.
Thank you to those of you who have read up to here. I made this not to ridicule the fantasy map, not at all. In fact I think the TGCF storyline will be more in line with the fantasy map. It's just that I was challenged to use a map of China thanks to the existence of 'Gobi Desert' the novel mentioned.
The JoJoLands 1st chapter review: Breaking Bad in Hawaii
!!MAJOR SPOILER OF JJBA PART 9: THE JOJOLANDS!!
If you haven’t read the manga, read first before proceeding.
So, the subtropical country is actually in Hawaii. Our protagonist is Jodio Joestar.
He is 15 years old, he also has a sister, 18 years old. The sister is the one who drives the car, there is ‘Dua Lipa’ reference while listening to music.
Their car gets stopped by a cop. The sister mentioned about “COVID”, so let me guess… part 9 more likely takes place in 2023, since none of them wear mask, it’s likely that the regulation has been lifted.
A little trivia, because JoJolion (part 8) took place in 2011 and was first serialized in 2011 too, post ‘Tōhoku earthquake & tsunami’ (it also referred said disaster).
Always remember, fodder cops in JoJo are always corrupt (exception is Abbacchio’s friend). The cop is about to sexually assault the sister, but then Jodio won’t just stand still, he takes out his Stand.
The Stand’s ability generates waters, like a rain and flattens the cop, hollowing his body out. Water manipulation? It kinda reminds me of 「Vitamin C」 and 「Catch The Rainbow」.
The sister also has Stand power; moving and rearranging objects?
It’s colony type, like 「Harvest」 and 「Sex Pistols」. Usually, this Stand will be more ‘useful’ than simply ‘powerful’.
Jodio ends up killing the cops and burns the car, getting rid of the evidence.
Turns out that he and his sister work as drug dealers, so… this is what ‘filthy rich’ means.
They’re family of three, with Barbara Ann Joestar as their mother. Seems that she is a good mother, I’m glad. She is also the first Jo-mom introduced in part 9. The reason why the Joestar siblings doing dirty work is to protect her. I wonder why she needs that, will there be another reason behind it, or is it simply that life in Hawaii is hard? Also, as a single mom, she works in duty-free store.
Then the sister, turns out that he is ‘the brother’. Dragona Joestar, I wonder if he represents trans-woman here? But if he is trans, why isn’t his pronoun “she/her”? And why Jodio calls him “brother” instead of “sister”? Could it be that he is a genderfluid instead?
Actually, I’m quite beginner to this matter, feel free to correct me. There are also fans on twitter who said that his pronoun is “they/their/them”. So far, a JoJo character who is officially referred as “they/them” is Foo Fighters.
So as of now, I will call Dragona “he/his/him” following the translation. There’s also a clarification of why the translators decided to use the pronoun.
Now, let’s talk about the Joestar family tree. Their mother, Barbara is Holy’s sister. When people speculated that the protagonist will be reboot Josuke in part 4 (bastard lineage), turns out that their Joestar lineage is legitimate… at least in mother’s side.
Holy and Barbara were born from the same mother (Suzi Q). The father of our protagonist siblings is also mysterious. Jodio only mentions that “things were messy between dad and mom,” Were his parents divorced? However I think Jodio didn’t know about about their history. If they were indeed divorced, he should have just said “my parents were divorced” like Yasuho.
Somehow I theorize that maybe Barbara was in similar situation with Tomoko (part 4), ‘the father’ just left. So basically, our Joestar siblings are illegitimate children of their dad, but they got the “Joestar” name because of the mother is the Joestar one.
Another interesting bit, why is Kei not listed on the family tree again? Araki forgot? Considering that Barbara is likely the younger sister and her children are younger than Holy’s, could it be that the Joestar sisters had lost contact sometime after Kira Yoshikage was born?
At least, the Joestar family tree is updated again:
Now, the debut of “Pink Guy” of The JoJolands (LOL).
Yeah, he is dubbed such on twitter. He is one of Jodio’s customer. Their scene in the school bus kinda reminds me of Giorno & Bruno’s first meeting.
This boy is definitely the opposite of Giorno, I think the latter won’t like the former. Mentions of “Mechanism”, perhaps this will be the main theme in part 9.
Then another Jobro, Paco Lovelantes. He is a klepto, 19 years old, used to be chubby but now is packed, clearly a Stand user. Kinda sad that he has abusive father, I hope they are already separated. To Jodio, he is more like a co-worker than a friend.
And then another Jo-mom, plus “The Big Boss”. She is the school principal and the owner of a boutique, but according to Jodio, there are just her side jobs and a guise. Yeah… she is also literally big:
The Big boss gives a job, a mission to our Joestar siblings & Paco to do a diamond heist. The target is a rich person, conglomerate from Japan. They will come alone and stays in a luxurious villa (Meryl refers the person with “they”, likely she doesn’t know whether this person is a man/woman). I wonder who? A Higashikata? (The conglomerates in part 8). Some said that it won’t be Joshu because:
Perhaps Tsurugi? In 2023, he will be around 21 years old, quite an adult.
They won’t be robbing just ‘three’, Meryl adds the “Pink Guy” into the team. Who is this “Pink Guy” actually? His name has not been revealed yet. Is he Meryl’s son? Because Jodio mentions that “she has a handsome husband and a kid”.
LOL, I already like this “Pink Guy”, the weirdo of the team, he has such Secco’s vibe I guess.
This mission is apparently much tougher than our protagonists imagined. Also, imo… we should not immediately assume that Meryl is on the protagonist’s side. At the moment, she is pretty neutral… and kinda sus to me.
Remember Diavolo? Giorno and Bruno’s gang were initially worked for him, fighting La Squadra. Then DOJYAAAN! He is the big villain.
Would be cool to have her as a villain tbh, but don’t be sure yet. It’s still too early to say. At least, I’m pretty sure that she is a Stand user too.
The chapter ended with our protagonist gang’s Stand names… but the “Pink Guy”’s one?
I don’t think I will do this review for every chapter in the future, I would like to wait more to have a theory in mind.
A sample of comments with well intention in readers' mind but considered rude by some authors:
HOW DARE YOU LEAVING ME WITH THIS CLIFFHANGER? PLEASE DON'T BE LAZY AND UPDATE ASAP! (Affectionate)
Reader: "I'm so excited, their story is fun, so I'd like to joke with the author. But I'm afraid s/he will misunderstand what I mean, so yeah... insert (Affectionate) just to be safe.
Positive thinking: "They don't really mean to be mad or anything, the capslock used to express their excitement. Also, calling me 'lazy' is just a joke. Overall, they just want to mimic a hot-blooded enthusiastic reader, but it's not like they think bad about me."
Negative thinking: "Using the word (Affectionate) is just an excuse, no matter how I read, their words are rude. They actually want to berate me but using (Affectionate) for the sake of saying that 'they are not mean', which actually 'yes, they are.'
I hate angsty ending but before that great story.
Reader: "I didn't expect the ending to be sad, even though I thought it would have a happy ending. But the story is really good, so I'm not disappointed that I've followed it all this time."
Positive thinking: "They just hate the ending which I can't control of. At least they still read my story & stays until the end, why? Because they think that my story is great. Angsty ending it's just not their preference but they still took their time to appreciate my work. At least, thank you for reading until the end."
Negative thinking: "They could have worded it better; 'I usually hate angsty ending, but your work is so great I can't stop reading.' Why should you express your disappointment? Do I care that what kind ending I should write for your liking?"
I usually hate this kind of story, but there is something from your writing that keeps me interested in continuing to read it and I have no regrets, because (insert reasons)
Reader: "Yeah, there is something in this writing that enchanted me when normally I just avoid this kind of story. The writer is so skilled I guess."
Positive thinking: "I am moved, I feel like I really succeeded writing this story, considering something you used to hate can make you stay up to this moment. Thanks for staying all this time."
Negative thinking: "Why do you keep reading for something you hate? There are still many stories out there that might suit your taste. At least, thank you for reading mine, but I'm not interested hearing what you hate."
MOOOORRRREEEE!! / PLEASE UPDATE! (etc)
Readers: "I'm so excited, I can't wait for the next update. At least I want to tell the author that I'm looking forward for the next chapter.
Positive thinking: "Thank you, I thought I wrote this alone and no one cares. But seeing these comments makes me want to keep going because there are some who actually care with what I'm doing.”
Negative thinking: "These readers are so pushy and pressuring me and they're rude too, why don't they understand that author can be busy too?"
My personal thought (TL;DR in the bottom line):
Since I am both reader & author now, I will speak from both sides, I have no intention of leaning to any party, be it readers or authors.
As a reader; We should be more careful in choosing words when commenting, because who knows if the author who wrote our favorite fanfic is a sensitive person or is having personal problems so they tend to focus on the negative side in our comments.
We understand that we actually have good intentions to motivate them to keep writing, besides that we also want to share our experiences in reading their works so that we tend to be honest by such words; "I initially hate this but..." or "I don't like the ending but...", but consider that some authors don't care about it or don't even want to hear it. They’re writing for fun and think about it, maybe our words just ruined their fun.
If you really need to put out thoughts or rant about certain fanfic, I suggest doing it on your personal blog away from the author.
Complaining right in front of the author is not just rude or impolite, it’s entitlement; where you impose your thoughts/ideas on those who are impossible to read your expectation. Why don't you just write your own story? That's most likely what their respond will be whenever they receive such comment.
The idea that they have, and what they want to write is not always in line with your expectation. Perhaps, initially you were interested and liked their story, but over time, their story started to deviate from your expectation, you're starting lose the interest.
If the time comes like that, you should just stop reading.
Maybe you feel that "I've wasted my time on this". But remember, no time is wasted when you were still enjoying their story.
Your time is just starting to be wasted when you keep reading stories you no longer like!
Remember that they once entertained you, don't forget that moment to the point that you only feel that they wronged you!
As an author; I personally prefer to focus on the positivity written in the examples of comments above. No matter how you read it, the comments above still have positive point compared to straight up flames like the following:
“Your writing sucks, you should stop writing and do something else”
“Uh this is so OOC I can’t, I’ll stop reading now (blocked)” (I’ve got this one btw lol)
“Ew, this irked me so much, how can you write something this disgusting?”
Something like this one too (the author is right to be offended)
It’s alright if you still won't accept comments like misunderstood ones above (not the flame ones), but I think instead of telling said reader, it's better if you just delete the comment if you really don't like it.
It's an indirect way of saying that you don't like their comments, they may understand.
Telling them directly that you don't like their comments will only make them reluctant to read your works again. Think about it, they love your work, they took the time to express their feelings and want to motivate you.
And suddenly, they discovered that you don’t like them.
Being sensitive is not wrong, you have feeling, but so does the readers. Don't you think that they can get hurt too?
Maybe you want to make them realize that what they did hurt you, even if it wasn't on purpose.
Or maybe you think that "I don't need readers like them" (tbh, that's arrogance)
If you really want to prevent comments like that from persisting, instead of driving away your readers, just write on your A/N that; you don't accept comments like the following “...” (describe)
Don’t be too obvious as well, example; if you received this comment in your work: “I hate angsty ending but before that great story.” Don’t write it in your A/N to the same work that “I don’t like comment like this; I hate angsty ending but before that great story”.
Remember, you can get hurt by their unintentional remarks. And now you want to hurt them back? Isn’t that hypocrite?
Instead, write this; “I hope not to receive comment that have "but" in it, if there's something you don't like, just keep it to yourself.”
Maybe it would be better if you do this in the first chapter or every chapter, so that your potential readers can anticipate if they want to leave such comment to your work.
Also, don’t act arrogant. Often I see sensitive authors being arrogant, telling said reader directly that "I won't update if you're being this rude" "this story isn't for you", etc. You’re basically treating your readers like beggars or little brats.
Remember, there are lots of cakes. Your readers won't starve to death because they don't eat your cake, they’ll just find another cake.
Do you think your reader will cry over their mistakes because of that? No. They may just stop reading your work and interacting with you, then look for other authors who have more positive energy than yours... yeah, they’re no longer your reader.
They may learn their mistake, but your attitude that drives them away will not make them want to come back to you and be nicer to you.
They just try not to repeat their mistakes to the next authors.
Shooing your readers is only legit if they really don't like your story and only leave negative comments;
R: “This writing sucks, OOC, I hate it.”
A: “Then get out, this is not for you” (blocked)
But don't chase them away if there is still something from our story that makes them like it.
So keep in mind that what separated your unintentionally rude readers with the real flamers is that the former still like your work when the latter hate it so much.
These FF.net authors are so bold, they don’t mind with flame and even asking for it.
I don’t think I can be that bold (brave).
In case you don’t know “flame”:
Flames are the opposite of helpful feedback. It means sending an email to an author to tell them you disliked the story you just read. Common examples are people who can't stand slash, yet read a slash story in its entirety then email the author to tell them they hate slash. Well, here's a thought, if you know you won't like it, don't read it.
Remember there is a difference between saying 'you may not know it but you spelled bestiality wrong.' and saying 'if you can't spell it you shouldn't be doing it, dumb ass'. While I realize the latter is more tempting be polite, authors have memories like really well superglued traps, they won't forget your flame and will probably even send back a snarky response if you send them one. (quoted from: fangedfour.com)
I think the term is rarely used in todays fandom world.
