Lizzie's Corner

hi, i write stories! you can find me on ao3 :)

[matchatonic]

Thanks for the tag @brownskinandlemon

Tag people you want to get to know better! 👀

Reading: I started the ROTS novelization and uhhh—I am scared tbh.

Last series: Pokemon! My partner is obsessed with it rn. But we are watching that and BBC Merlin back to back so…I watched them both tonight. Merlin is MY obsession rn (tho not as much as Star Wars..oops)

Last Film: Johnny English…it’s so cringe it’s good.

Last song: As Above So Below by Essenger and Cryoshell (it’s from my Vaderkin playlist..I am in the trenches)

Coffee or Tea: Tea! My stomach stopped tolerating coffee so I usually drink more tea now. Especially Matcha! I used to drink the same amount of both :( I really love both lol. I’ll get some milky Oolong because it’s so good in the morning.

Working on: Two Obikin fics! I’m only sketching out the ideas though, no actual writing yet unfortunately 😔 but I’ll get there 🦾

Tagging: @nightoncydonia @ghostyprince @sainteverge @fabiansociety @sadyippie @spocktogo @hiveswap @agentlizardofowca

[sadyippie]

aw yay!! thank you for the tag <3 <3 <3

Reading: amagami wo kimi ni (play-biting you!) i got vol 1 for christmas 🩷🩷🩷 and many many fanfics...

Last series: adventure time, always because i play it on loop for bg noise

Last Film: jujutsu kaisen: execution ! the animation was sooooooo good

Last song: this

Coffee or Tea: tea 🥰 coffee smells like poop to me asdfghjkl

Working on: cutieful ver of a prison realm with sparkly eyes and glitter uwu i'm not good with clay and my hands haven't been working™️ though 😭

this was fun to do ^u^

tagging: @wallie28, @chommki, @maximum-uzumaki

[wallie28]

THANK YOU FOR THE TAG!

Reading: A hundred ways to kill a heartthrob. Imma be honest, I'm just reading it out of boredom. I can't click with the characters but I'm also too curious about the ending to drop it out now.

Last Series: Evil. Actually an amazing serie!! Pretty heavy on the religion but there's a piece of cake for evrybody. Religious or not. Definitely check it out!!

Last Movie: Ultraman(the last Netflix version). I'm pretty late on the hype but I liked it. It was a cute movie.

Last Song: Eve by ado. Low-key obsessed nowadays with this. I recommend the clip video. The visuals are a must.

Coffee or Tea: Now, I can NOT choose between the two okay. Both is good.

Working on: (now that's a big word lmao) daydreaming about a tcf android au and I guess some of my OCs designs. Man, I have so many WIPs in my drawer.

Tagging: @thepizzamanisaneva @thepurplewombat @the-godly-apple-being @harudemuri @luzzxsgabi @chaoticflowertree @generoustarworld @anitamta @delusional-daydreamer18 and all my mutuals(sorry I couldn't put everyone) and anybody interested

[delusional-daydreamer18]

Oh wow, did not expect to get tagged but thank you anyways! \(> v <)/<3

Reading: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop. I've already read this but I wanted to reread it because it's officially one of my comfort books. And also, many, many fanfictions, ahem.

Last Series: Gachiakuta. Haven't finished watching it yet, but it has a unique plot with loveable characters and the lore is quite intriguing as well. The artstyle is also just ugh, AMAZING! The music is catchy too~

Last Movie: Dead Poets Society. It's a good movie which teaches you valuable life lessons and the characters are people the audience can relate to greatly, especially the protagonist. Beware of the ending, though.

Last Song: Rendezvous by AHOF. I've never been a K-pop fan or stan before, but that was before I discovered AHOF. All of their songs are great and I've been listening to them nonstop every single day.

Coffee or Tea: I can't drink coffee because it gives me heart palpitations and is overall bad for my health. So tea it is, specifically honey lemon tea. Yum.

Working on: Another TCF Modern Au fanfic with Cale and KRS as its protagonists as per usual. Will try to experiment a different writing style and whatnot. And I should probably work on my WIPs...

Tagging: @mojitotheslothsblog @cale-thames @calethescammer @sleepy-ssi @kireeen and all my other mutuals that I can't tag because I can't find y'all and I suck at tagging in general. And to anyone else who wants to try this out:D

[calethescammer]

thank you for the tag i woke up saw this and went avdgvsywhagdyuajqj???!!! <333

Reading: currently binging 'How to survive as the second son of the magic household' (webnovel), while comfort-reading on the side 'My friends' by Fredrik Backman (third time laughing and crying over his books, i can never rec him enough)

Last series: Vinland Saga, completed till the end and I was just living dazed for a week afterwards.

Last movie: I don't really watch movies so the last one i did was like, Spider man: No way home, right after its release (which year was that..?)

Last song: Isabella's lullaby from The Promised Neverland. Listening to it without the music is a routine therapy atp ^^

Coffee or tea: TEA!!!! THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH TEA FOR ME!!! I would've liked coffee as well but i physically am incapable of swallowing the bitterness. Milk tea is my every day comfort drink <33

Working on: Uhh just started the first chapter of a tcf torture Cale fic,,,,lots of wip in the background as well but this one's my current focus. Also working on getting a sleep schedule that involves sleeping before 4am.

Tagging: @scammysmileroksuu @a-main-blog-for-me @gatoquecontaestrelas @aro-screams-into-the-void @rosekitsune @forgetme-eternally-blissfully @mirusx @certifiedcoffeeaddict @tiredforeternity @dani-the-human @straysnail @moondrip027 @chillinghereathome @murasaki-cha @gottamakethiswork @mojitotheslothsblog @lolomity @luzzxsgabi uhh that's a lot (if i forgot anyone blame my memory not my love)

[certifiedcoffeeaddict]

thank you for the tag<333 (thank you too @forgetme-eternally-blissfully !!)

i realised as i was answering this that i really need to consume media again omg

reading: a little life (i can never not rec it enough but the vocab is tasty and i wanted to see if i still hate it as much as i did during my first read) and iron flame (my friend is holding me at gunpoint, i’ve been trying to finish it for m o n t h s)

last series: uuuuh it’s been a hot minute but i rewatched tian guan ci fu (gorgeous and sent me right back into the hyperfixation) & and knight rider was being broadcast recently

last film: i can genuinely not remember….???

last song: currently listening to new perspective by p!atd

coffee or tea: coffee!!! (who woulda thought) but ill tea if im feeling under the weather aka throughout the entirety of winter

working on: a lot of things……. too many things…. the rokcale yearning fic, itcwsas (this one in my head, mostly) and a tgcf longfic (which, knowing myself, will never see the light of day). and right as i am typing this i should be working on my math assignments oopsie

tagging: @the-red-thread-that-strangles @fictionalcreator @uncreative-dumpsterfire @yummxi and any willing mutual !

[fictionalcreator]

Both you and @forgetme-eternally-blissfully tagged me so I guess I’ve gotta! (lighthearted)

Reading: currently on non-holiday-reading-jail (i historically have a Problem with failing to stop reading through the night and having to call out sick the next day so i try to avoid reading Actual Books while not on break), but last I read was Trash of the Count’s Family Part 1, and I’ve been voraciously consuming fic of it in the meantime (the trick is that most fic aren’t 100k+ so I can binge them without locking myself into crippling sleep deprivation)

OH AND I NEARLY FORGOT need to catch up with S Classes That I Raised and actually find a place to read the ORV side stories

Last series: TV series, I’m assuming? In which case uhhhhh Link Click? It’s been a hot minute. Need to get back to it…still on the The Gang Goes to England arc. The last one I remember that I both finished season 1 and really really enjoyed was S1 of Wind Breaker and S1 of DanDaDan, but now they have S2s and I need to catch upppppp—oh! And Battlebots! Gotta catch up on the last two seasons. Missed the tournament last year

Last film: uhhhhhhh oh! Everything Everywhere All At Once! Watched it on the plane last flight :) really good!!! Of course I vibe with absurdism in general, but the execution and unflinching ridiculousness of it all was 11/10. You’ve GOTTA play a story like this straight and sincere and by god they DID it

Last song: Tsuki wo Miteita by Kenshi Yonezu just finished playing in the car. Next in the queue is Taikutsuwo Saienshinaide by EVE. This isn’t me being deliberately obtuse or pedantic btw this is just how these two songs’ names are listed on English language iTunes. They don’t even treat the を particle the same. In Yonezu’s the wo is separated by a space and in EVE’s it’s not. Romaji!

Coffee or tea: NEITHER!!!!! Give me water give me soda but do NOT give me the leaf/bean juice

Working on: too much and not enough! Main project right now is Heir to the Dragon God, original longform fantasy inspired by TCF and the like. Also some art is brewing in the background. I may or may not try and write some media analysis essays in the future. Who knows? What I really should be doing tho is cleaning my house—

Tagging uhhhhh @1-800-i-ship-it , @tryingahandinholdingapen , @zorlovinghue , @makzee-51percent , @unhealthyobsessiveworm , @buqbite , @beloved-fool-clown give me your personal information. Or not. I’m not the older mentor character you have a complicated relationship with but consider a father

[makzee-51percent]

THANK YOU FIR TAGGING ME @fictionalcreator IM HONORED!!

Reading: Children of the holy emperor (WebNovel) im very early into it and haven’t had much time to read it lately, but I’ve heard loads of good things and the plot is super cool! On top of that I have so many fanfic tabs open that I’m too scared to count but I’ll just leave those for later…

Last series: Madoka magica. It’s one of my favorites and while I’ve already seen it, I’m doing a rewatch while forcing my friend to watch it with me so we can go see the new movie in theaters together when it comes out.

Last film: I don’t really watch movies often (sitting and doing nothing for that long gives me too much opportunity to read instead) but I did go see Zootopia 2 in theaters with my sister back during thanksgiving

Last song: we hug now by Sydney rose. It’s a constant in every playlist for me. My absolute favorite song! It’s perfect for every Scenerio in my head. No matter what ship, they can be edited to it. It’s perfect. It was my too song on Spotify for 2025 with almost 200 listens (I’ll top that number this year)

Coffee or tea: I’ve always been a huge sucker for tea. For warm tea, a good black tea with milk and honey will never get me wrong. For cold tea, I get an iced chai everywhere I go. It’s delicious, quick to make, and available at every coffee shop you’ve ever heard of.

Working on: unlike most of the people in this thread I am not a fanfic author. I am however, an artist! I don’t typically start projects and not finish them in one sitting but I am working on turning my friends and my mutual ocs into cookie run kingdom cookies. I’m also planning a fanart for another Totcf crossover fic, so look forward to that.

@melonpuddingpudding @strwbrrykittie @delusional-daydreamer18 @lizmidfordsblog @murasaki-cha @forgetme-eternally-blissfully @records-of-a-slacker @noxiousgrace @nonexistentirl

[lizmidfordsblog]

Oh my, this was an amazing way to return to tumblr! Thank you, @makzee-51percent

Reading: Currently rereading Yona of the Dawn manga since the second season was just announced after like a decade and it is my favorite manga of all time (10/10 recommend).

Last series: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End in preparation for the second season! It's also up there in my top five lists, haha. I've been following the series since it started all the way in 2020! I guess I'm just a sucker for slice-of-life and found family.

Last film: Not much of a movie person either (reader through and through). I think the last movie I might've watched would have been K-pop Demon Hunters, and that'd be all the way back in August oof.

Last song: Like Him, by Tyler the Creator and Lola Young! I typically have Spotify playlists curated specifically for each of my fics (or certain characters). But this song is a constant in all of them simply because of how versatile and downright amazing it is! One of my absolute favorites!

Coffee or tea: Hot chai girlie all the way - I think my culture forbids me from anything else lolol. But I'm also a college student, so coffee is my best friend. A better answer would be chai or any type of tea for pleasure, coffee when I have six assignments to grind before midnight!

Working on: I'm the author of the TCF series lullabies of broken fates on ao3! I haven't updated for a while since life got to me, but it's primarily character study and slice-of-life fluff!! Also on some Cale fam fluff fics oof. Currently, I'm helping beta a friend's debut novel and working on the script for my own original short drama!

Tagging: @flamefenrir2003 @records-of-a-slacker @readerattheend @soleil9675 @wallie28

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Cale’s pupils are blown wide Jules notes. Whether its adrenaline or something else, she doesn’t have the time to dissect it properly. Instead she presses closer—closer than they’ve ever been. "What are you—!" Her body molds to his, solid and sure, while he goes taut beneath her like a live wire. She feels the tremor in his shoulders, the sharp hitch of breath that brushes her collarbone—and takes it for nerves. How cute.

HEHEHEH, IT IS HERE.

It took three fics and a 175k words, but we finally made it. These two emotionally constipated losers are finally getting some.

Enjoy!

[lizmidfordsblog]

Loving TCF is kind of like a curse and a blessing all wrapped up nicely in one. On one hand, there's so much content out there (between the novel, manhwa, fanfiction and fanart) that one can never get bored but at the same time there's so much content.

There's so many people I keep trying to introduce this story too, and they all get turned off by the sheer amount of chapters of the novel or the episodes of the manhwa. I have to keep convincing that its worth spending the time with this story. But at the same time, the people that do invest that time come out as the biggest fans ever.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by it too. There's like what, 1000+ chapters of the novel now? I keep wondering how long it's gonna go on. But at the same time, I know I'm lowkey cursed because coming out the deep end of the novel every time, I do so with the knowledge no story is ever gonna hit me this hard. Our KRS!Cale is just that good.

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Record makes it such that Kim Rok Soo—no, Cale Henituse can never forget anything. They come and go, the memories. But if there’s something he can keep immortalized forever — wiping sauce off Raon’s chin, stroking On and Hong’s fur, the small smile on Choi Han’s face and — — the sight that he sees now, this molten gaze and quick, teasing smile.

Hi! I'm back for a little while! My thesis is kicking my butt so I've been insanely busy. Here I present to you the piece de resistance of this fic aka Cale's mini-awakening. He's having an internal meltdown, okay?

The next chapter is gonna be extra spicy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Featuring Alberu being a shipper, Cale showing off his dance skills, and Jules being drop dead gorgeous!

[lizmidfordsblog]

A scene that’s gonna be canon at some point:

Some bad guy: What are you, Cale Henituse’s dog?

Cale, visibly annoyed: Watch your mouth—

Choi Han, dead in the eye: Woof.

[lizmidfordsblog]

help why do my comfort characters have absolutely NO IDEA of what task delegation is?

[queenangst]

a quick atla fic rec list

this atla fic rec list is mostly gen and zuko, gaang, and iroh centric.

Daybreak gen, 2.8k, chapters 1/1 complete; zuko & gaang, iroh & zuko

The final Agni Kai, and the immediate aftermath.

brave little soldier boy  gen, 1.7k, chapters 1/1 complete; zuko & katara

“Let the children sleep,” Iroh says softly to Hakoda. “And let us carry the weight of the world for a while.”

Or: the night after Ozai’s defeat

these little things define you forever, forever  gen, 2.8k, chapters 1/1 complete; mai/zuko (background)

Iroh hasn’t been the feared Dragon of the West for decades, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has forgotten his past. Years after the war has ended, Mai sees a different side of Iroh.

We’re Home  gen, 3k, chapters 1/1 complete; iroh & zuko, zuko & gaang

Things have changed, but not much. Zuko and Iroh are grateful for their bond, especially now when the quiet moments matter the most.

Rigid and Stale  gen, 3k, chapters 3/3 complete; zuko & gaang

Zuko and his incorporations of the other elements in his bending.

Classroom Lessons  gen, 1.3k, chapters 1/1 complete

Sokka never would have thought he’d be pretending to be a Fire Nation Colonial Citizen, going to a parent conference about his fake!son who was an airbender, but here he was.

At least life wasn’t boring.

Sokka turned on Aang, fake mustache and beard bristling. “Young man, as soon as we get home, you’re gonna get the punishment of a lifetime.”

The headmaster smirked, smugly, evil-y, Fire Nation-y. “That’s what I like to hear. Really Zuko him.”

bitter work (dig your heels into the dirt)  gen, 6.3k, chapters 1/1 complete; iroh & zuko, zuko & gaang

With her back against the wall, Azula decides that the best way out is to kill a dragon. It’s a daunting, but simple enough task. One swift strike, right through the heart, and it will never move again.

In which Azula shoots her brother full of lightning to make her escape, and Iroh has the desperation and humility to ask for help before it’s offered.

something about grace  gen, 8.9k, chapters 1/1 complete; toph & zuko

Growing up, Toph never had any siblings. Zuko doesn’t have a good relationship with the one he does have. Together, they discover in each other what they were missing.

five times zuko impressed toph and that one time he impressed everyone gen, 3k, chapters 1/1 complete; toph & zuko, zuko & gaang

In which Toph has a great time just experiencing the train wreck that is Zuko

The Firebender Hunters gen, 5.6k, chapters 1/1 complete; zuko & gaang

Zuko goes missing, and the Gaang looks for him and talks about some Firebending culture.

The Warmth of My Heart  gen, 1.6k, chapters 1/1 complete; zuko & gaang, sokka/suki

Caught in a storm on Ember Island, the Gaang returns to Zuko’s old family home, cold and wet. There, they make a welcome discovery about their fire bender companion.

[lizmidfordsblog]

In the middle of writing my fic and just, I'm so baffled by the intricacy of this novel. All my respect to the author at just how detailed, ironic and yet deeply tragic KRS's very existence is.

Everyone that KRS has ever dared to love ended up dead or a fate worse than death. We have implicit confirmation that he began distancing himself from his team after LSH & CJS deaths. But I keep thinking back to him throughout the years (a little kid, teenage, young adult etc.) always grieving then daring to be happy only to have it shot down over and over again.

His parents passed away? His uncle takes him, only to abuse him.

He ends up at an orphanage? Sure he doesn't have friends but he's earning money and will go to college. Cataclysm happens.

He's stuck under debris for ages. But then he meets our movie star LSH, right? Wrong, LSH goes off to save other people, KRS gets bullied by PJT, the shelters collapse and he loses everyone. It's just this never ending cycle of tragedy over and over again.

At some point, during the early chapters, KRS commends Raon for not giving up despite all his pain. KRS lowkey detests himself having given up early on living a happy life. Still his heart wavers and yearns for companionship simply because that's a fundamental part of being human.

Every single time, he has to gather the courage to be hurt again. I'm thinking now, forget his OG world, in his current one too-- whenever KRS!Cale brings in another person into his family, he's subconsciously bracing himself to lose them. It's ironic that he thinks he stopped fighting back fate, when in reality, all his meticulous preparations, his scheming and his self-sabotage of his slacker life-- are all proof that KRS is not willing to lose these people. The OG!Cale's future is KRS's worst nightmare.

Every single time he brings another member into his family, KRS is silently saying-- I know this opens me up to hurt, for I've lost more people than I've ever had, but still regardless, I want you. I love you. I care for you.

All of this, in retrospect to the reveal about the WS' influence on KRS' life, makes this so much more tragic. The WS looked down on the importance human connection/companionship, considering it useless to the path of godhood. KRS embodies that importance, despite steeling his heart, he continues to care. He's our snarky self-sacrificial middle-aged twink, who finally gained a family willing to literally fistfight god for him. And you know, you know that if the WS stupid curse didn't parasite onto KRS's life, then you know from the Sealed God Test that he'd have had that family too in another life, in another world.

Just going on this rant gives me the heebie jeebies about writing my fic, purely because I keep wondering about how the hell I am ever going to give this man justice with my amateur writing. Sir, respectfully, I know you hate this question but, are you human?

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Snippet:

She lifts her gaze, reflected gold in the soft candlelight. Within the haze of her own mortality, of her own doubts, even still—she looks resplendent. That much, even someone like Cale, can admit. He tears his gaze away from her slowly, lounging back in the cushions leisurely. Instead, his eyes flicker towards the silk clenched in her hands. He asks, even though he knows the answer. “Do you not like it?” “I like it.”

Our Cale's still sorting out his feelings™ while literally inventing a silk in the fantasy world. All while Alberu's having a crisis of his own. Hey, at least Eruhaben lives up to his claims of being the biggest diva ever.

It was so fun writing this chapter again from Alberu's perspective, since he's such a unique and complicated character! Once again, I hope my characterization was not too OOC, since this is meant to be character exploration.

Let me know if you liked it :)

[penguin-stars]

//⚠Spoilers for Part 1

Choi Han: *Would die for Cale* Choi Jung Soo: *Did die for Cale* Meanwhile, Choi Jung Gun: *Used Cale as bait*

Cale: I could've died CJG: But did you die?

[flamefenrir2003]

Power Scaling Return of the Mount Hua Sect

TDLR: I'm a very nerdy creative writing major. There will be links to the sources I use in case y'all are interested! Minor spoilers for the manhwa and novel.

So, one of the first things I set out to do before writing out my fic was to figure out the novel’s power scaling and determine how my original character would fit within it. Admittedly, I didn't find much—Biga is very ambiguous about Chung Myung's strength.

The only thing we know for sure is that Chung Myung still hasn’t reached the level of strength he had in his past life. But that really isn't helpful when fleshing out worldbuilding, even if we use the excuse that Return of the Mount Hua Sect employs a soft magic system.

After all, in our darling Chung Myung's legendary words:

"Qi, Strength, Speed. I'm outmatched in every aspect. But does that mean I'm weaker than him?" "Not at all. Physical strength and speed are hardly accurate measures of power."

To be honest, I was initially hesitant to place him within the traditional wuxia/murim power-scaling brackets, precisely because of this quote. Chung Myung’s battle experience and instincts form a huge part of his strength, allowing him to remain flexible and adaptable in virtually any situation. That means placing him strictly on a hierarchy risks missing what actually makes him dangerous.

Still, some kind of hierarchy is useful for readers.

It gives context to conflicts, clarifies stakes, and helps us understand why characters act the way they do. A rigid system can limit creativity, but it can also create some of the most satisfying payoff. Especially in underdog narratives, like when a story establishes a clear “food chain” and then upends it, the reversal lands all the harder.

Sound familiar?

Welcome to basically every wish-fulfillment power fantasy manga, manhwa, and anime ever (looking at you, Solo Leveling).

I’ll dig deeper into those narrative choices in another post. For now, the bottom line is this: having power hierarchies isn’t inherently bad. That’s why I decided to build one in the end, by piecing together scraps from the novel, the fandom wiki, and other martial arts/wuxia media I could find.

As a result, this is the power scaling system I came up with:

Third Class → Second Class → First Class → Peak Realm → Transcendent Realm → Absolute Realm → Nature Realm → God Realm

The fandom wiki lists Chung Myung’s cultivation only up to the “Supreme Peak” level—a title I’ve seen used less often than the more common “Transcendent Realm.” So, for clarity and recognition, I opted for the more popular translation.

Beyond that, the scaling is heavily sourced from popular martial arts works: Nanomachine, The Undefeatable Swordsman & Legend of the Northern Blade primarily due to their popularity and recognizability.

These levels are further divided in low, mid, and high stages to distinguish between characters in the same level. These characterizations are prescribed based on the character's progress as per the following:

The leveling is defined as cultivation, which is a combination of internal (qi) and external (body) arts.

Internal (qi) arts are basically made up of two components: your cultivated qi—the energy you gather in your dantian through training, and innate qi—your natural lifeforce from birth.

External (body) arts are basically you putting your body through vigorous mental and physical training to be able to bear the burden of the qi.

To progress up a 'level', one needs to fulfill certain criteria in both.

Achieve balance in both internal (qi) and external (body) arts. Even if you have all the qi in the world from eating a shit-ton of mythical herbs, unless you cultivate it properly and train your body to handle such a massive amount without blowing up, you won’t be able to advance forward.

Both your your internal (qi) and external (body) arts need to reach a certain minimum threshold. It's hard to mathematically define what it is; but martial artists can tell instinctually. For example, being able to manifest your internal qi in the physical world as plum blossoms.

These are base two requirements: each sect's martial path differs and may include more criteria as such. For example, Mount Hua advocating for Taoist spiritualism and naturalism.

As per another popular murim trope—you can't tell martial artists' level of cultivation by eye alone. That's why cultivators are warned to never underestimate the young and the old in Kangho.

However, certain 'symptoms' are attributable to only specific levels, so that can help people pin down their levels. For example, Body Reformation or Reconstruction (another classic martial arts trope) is typically only achievable upon ascending to the Absolute Realm.

In novel and manhwa, a clear example occurs during the Tang Clan arc, when Chung Myung uses the Burying Hatred Flame to purge poison from his body -> a feat, everyone notes, that can only be performed by masters at the “Supreme Peak” or Transcendent Realm.

I'll add more stuff as I remember it, but this was what I had worked out for my fic. If y'all have any other popular murim tropes, let me know!

Now, for my readers:

How do the characters in Return of the Mount Hua Sect fit in your power scaling system?

I'll do another in-depth post for each character specifically within this system. But for now, we can use the Southern Edge Conference Arc as a baseline time metric to establish the level of cultivations of the characters.

During the climax of the arc (aka the Tournament), the levels of the characters are as follows:

Yoon Jong is at the low Second Class level, while Jo Gul is at mid Second Class, since Chung Myung states he is strong enough to beat their seniors plus according to this source, manifesting sword qi is a trait of a Second Class martial artist.

The majority of the second-class disciples, including Baek Sang are either at mid or high Second Class. On the other hand Yu Iseol is high Second Class, on the verge of First Class only to have it mucked up by Baek Cheon.

Baek Cheon is at the low to mid First Class level, same as the majority of the Southern Edge Sect disciples, including Lee Song Baek. At this stage, it's expected for disciples to be able to manifest qi in the physical world: like Lee Song Baek's snow flowers.

Chung Myung is mentioned here to be at the Peak Realm at this fight, though he achieves it accidentally and it's unstable because of his young body. Given how Jin Geumryong holds his own, but still gets his ass kicked, I'll put him in the low Peak Realm while Chung Myung is at the mid to high level.

Baek Aeri (my OC) is at the high Peak Realm on the verge of enlightenment—she has the cultivation, the sword techniques, and the discipline but there's a huge mental block.

I know I said too much particularity in leveling ends up being constraining, but it's fun, okay?

I tried to be as dynamic with it as possible to honor Chung Myung's quote from earlier. In my opinion reason why he's stronger than Jin Geumryong during this arc is because of how well he understands the heart of Mount Hua's techniques—not because of the amount of internal qi.

Just as a little easter egg: What level of cultivation do you think Chung Myung reached in his previous life before dying?

Anyways, this post is as long as it is already! If y'all have any questions or constructive thoughts about my system, let me know!

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Snippet:

“Not now!” Cale barely has the time to register familiar black hair and golden eyes before suddenly Eruhaben shoves Jules forward into the bed and— Directly into Cale’s arms.

Hello! I'm back with two more chapters :)

We have Cale and company investigating the Empire, Jules nearly getting hate crime-ed by a book, making her bold Real Arm debut and nearly giving poor Alberu a heart attack.

Oh, and that's not including what Cale and Jules do in bed.

Enjoy :)

[lizmidfordsblog]

Fic idea where Cale starts treating Choi Han like the elder he is, but in very standard I-will-give-no-context-for-this Cale way. When he does give context, its the what-I-say-will-only-make-things-worse kind and he’s patting himself on the back the entire time.

Poor Choi Han is flabbergasted, befuddled, bamboozled at suddenly being treated so formally. Going around with a devastated, kicked-puppy look on his face asking,

Cale-nim?? Does Cale-nim not like him any more??!

Cale begins talking to him with respect, offers up his seat every time Choi Han walks into the room and even refuses to start eating until Choi Han does. The first time Alberu and Eruhaben see this they think Cale is possessed. Or cursed. Or both.

Then Cale gives Choi Han a 90 degree bow and he loses his shit.

[lizmidfordsblog]

Watch the official translation muck up Duke Fredo to Alfredo. Dude’s gonna come rolling in pinching his fingers and going “Mamma Mia!” while tryna bully Cale into being his son.

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Snippet:

The thrill of the chase is slowly and painstakingly breaking her down and rebuilding her in his image, until all she can think about, can breathe about is him. When others gaze upon her glorious personage, they will not see the girl she was. They will see him. The echo of his voice in her smile. The shape of his hand in her silence. Because are humans not made in God’s image? And what is Adin, if not her god?

Yoho, I'm back!

Let it be known that I absolutely hated writing this chapter in Adin's POV. Probably the hardest one I've written so far, since I can't turn off my need to do character study, so that meant with actual in depth research about Adin's characterization in TCF.

And let me just say, I want to punt this man into the sun so bad.

But yeah, um, enjoy?

[lizmidfordsblog]

The unironically funniest thing about TCF is Cale giving his people food, home, shelter and everything under the sun, only to turn around be utterly flabbergasted, bamboozled, confounded about why they tf adore him so much.

Imagine being that bad at being trash. This dude had a literal crisis over how rudely he'd been treating his friend's elder all while the big bad evil guy of the entire effing novel was chucking literal dead mana at his head. And then monologued about how good of a person Choi Han was for not getting mad at him.

And then grinning to himself, nodding approvingly, deluding himself that he is, indeed, successful at being trash.

[lizmidfordsblog]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Welcome to Chapter 2 of from unspun threads, infinity!

Snippet:

Cale, visibly panicking, reaches for the one thing that has never let him down. Bullshit.

That's it. That's the chapter. Enjoy <3