Lya's shelves

Lya | She/them | Adult | I recently got into wuxia/xianxia | Mostly TGCF, MDZS, and WoH. And Witch Hat Atelier. | I talk about what I read and watch | Writing sideblog : lyasscribbles

[lyasshelves]

Here's what you may end up with if you scroll through my blog:

➡️ Currently reading : Tian ya ke/Faraway Wanderers

➡️ Sideblog for my writing and reblogs about writing: Lya's scribbles

I tag all my posts and reblogs but spoilers usually aren't tagged specifically (exception : Witch hat atelier) so be aware of that. I usually tag things by the title (or common abreviation of the title if there's one). If you're looking for my notes as I read or watch something for the first time, it'll be "Lya reads [Title OR common abbreviation of the title]" and "Lya watches [Title]" respectively. Mainn ones are :

Wuxia/xianxia :

📖 TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing :

Everything regarding Heaven Official's Blessing is at least tagged #tgcf. My readthrough posts from back at my first reading are under #Lya reads tgcf. Some specific posts people might be interested in :

Sum up of the story if you strip it of all plot and leave only the hualian.

My very rough attempt at a timeline to decipher which god ascended when.

My theory as to how Feng Xin and Mu Qing knew about Xie Lian's cooking when they were not supposed to

📖 MDZS/Grandmaster of demonic cultivation

Everything regarding Grandmaster of demonic cultivation is at least tagged #mdzs. My readthrough posts for the novels are tagged #Lya reads mdzs.

Everything about the donghua adaptation is tagged #mdzs donghua Everything from the Untamed is "the Untamed".

📖 Word of honor/Tian ya ke

Everything about the drama adaptation specifically is tagged "Word of Honor". List of my favourite scene is over here.

Everything that is either about the novel or unclear (for fanart, for exemple) is tagged "tyk"

Liveblog of my reading it is "Lya reads tyk"

📖Witch hat atelier/Tongari boushi no atelier

➡️ I read the physical volumes as they come out! Posts with reading notes are tagged "Lya reads TBNA"

Everything is tagged at least "Witch hat atelier" for both manga and anime

Anime specific posts are tagged "WHA anime" and spoilers that haven't appeard in the anime yet will be tagged "WHA anime spoilers"

[lyasshelves]

Reading TYK – Chapter 44 (“Shuzong”)

In which Wenzhou is being a nuisance to everyone except including each other

Novel translation by Wenbuxing – Tag for those chapters posts is "Lya reads tyk"

- Ye Baiyi appeared and Wen Kexing was instantly in a foul mood

- Zhou Zishu did NOT like being called “useless” by Ye Baiyi. Yeah, you bet he’d hate that.

- Good chunk of this chapter was wenzhou annoying everyone nearby by being themselves and constantly bickering.I can't believe they managed to make Ye Baiyi lose his cool and tell them to fuck off and "go tussle in bed".

"What are you pretending to be restrained for?" do they look restrained to you, Ye Baiyi??

Which made Wen Kexing's gaze and thoughts wander when he looked at Zhou Zishu afterwards. He was literally looking “as if he could see past his robes to look at the flesh and bones within.” then proceed to imagine it. Then thinks that yeah maybe there’s some reason in Ye Baiyi’s words.

- Them teaching different things in different ways to a poor, very confused, and very awkward Chengling. And of course they keep on disagreeing and bickering and having to leave to the side to make out “explosively fight their mutual discontent out”

(or, as Ye Baiyi puts it “partake in improper affairs”)

- Poor Chengling :(

I love them your honor, but they are stupid, your honor.

[mossworth]

Guys, queers. Specifically my fellow queers.

I work at a library. We do this thing where, every so often, we weed the collection. It hurts to see books go, but it's necessary to make sure there's room in the library for new materials.

I have seen so much support for the library in text, and I've seen folks pass around those beautiful "queer your library" flyers. Keep doing that. That's great. Nothing wrong with that. But you HAVE to turn your words into action. We MUST remember to actually go to our local organizations and libraries and actually, with our own fucking hands, interact with these materials we want to see more of.

My branch is medium-sized for a library, maybe a little small. We don't have as many materials as I'd like, but we have fundamentals. Tell me why, even with all the verbal support I've gotten from my local community for the library as a resource for our LGBT+ community, every single trans biography and a good chunk of our vaguely queer theory books were on the list. This isn't a scheme to take the books off the shelves, it isn't another bigoted American governmental push. The only thing we look at when we weed is how long it's been since the last time the item was checked out.

Three years.

No one in my community interacted in any meaningful way with the few books on trans life and history we physically had on the shelves for three fucking years.

I promise you the materials you want and need are there, but this isn't a horde. This isn't a static safety net. You have to use them. You MUST use them or, in the future, maybe in three years, they *won't* be there anymore.

This isn't a vague post, there's no one person I'm hinting at or calling out. I'm not even talking directly to anyone who's directly in my line of sight. I just want everyone to hear this. Big library, small library, whatever. Doesn't matter. Please, we cannot be losing our shelf visibility like this.

[alanfromrochester]

I work in a different library and can confirm, it's a decision based on popularity not censorship

we're big enough to have lots of shelf space but still have the problem on a different scale. We do have a back storage room rather than completely getting rid of some things, but having to ask for that might be a barrier for sensitive subject matter and prevent people from casually stumbling across something of interest

[paintedpigeon1]

Yep. Different library worker here, we weeded adult non-fiction recently bc it's most rarely used and we needed to clear a bookshelf of space, and there were a decent number of queer books on the list. Thankfully not all of them, but some (we had a lot lol). Our criteria is also no borrows in 3yrs. I can't borrow the whole list by myself. I do try to get these books in, and the local authority are happy to buy them, but we need space for new books every so often and we can't keep everything forever! If you want them, you have to use them!

(incidentally, the whole list was 35 pages long, which... please borrow the books you want people)

[qbdatabase]

I didn't have time to comment the first time I reblogged, but I can add now:

I'm also a librarian and queer books are almost always cut first when we have to weed for space or prioritize new releases over old items because no one reads them

I will say, when I worked at a large downtown location, we had a "browsing card" that we would check out items we found taken off the shelf and left on a table, as an example of a book that had clearly been read, just not checked out by anyone

it's possible queer books do actually get a bit of unfair treatment in this regard because people may be nervous or outright scared to check them out onto an account with their name on it. so they get browsed at a much higher rate, but if a library doesn't have a specific system in place (or need for it) to count browsed items, then it looks like they aren't being used and they get weeded

for other librarians, a browsing card is a great idea if you have enough staff for the extra work / enough items left out to justify it

for patrons, check out queer books even if you don't read them! you're not lying or committing any type of fraud. you're keeping books on the shelf long enough for pride season when people are interested in checking them out again and for people scared to use their own accounts or who don't have library cards

for anyone nervous about using their library card, libraries do not keep search histories of what you check out!! this means even if the government does come back with a warrant, *wet farting noise* too bad! it doesn't exist!

so please check out queer books!

[vtothefun]

I have to wonder how often they aren't checked out because those in an exploratory period may not feel safe enough for them to go home with them, too. Kids, for example, or folks who have ended up in a het marriage that... Doesn't feel like it's quite right (or may be physically abusive).

[mossworth]

This is most definitely one of the causes of this. That's why it's so important for folks who *can* to *do*.

It feels like such a small thing, but all movements are made up of small things! We have this mindset that in order to get everything done, everyone must be doing their (or *the*) absolute best at all times. But not everyone can do the same things, to the same degree, with the same amount of productivity or success. Not everyone can; sometimes, they're the ones that need help. Sometimes people just need help.

This post is very much so intended for the people who can. I've seen a lot of replies from folks who say they don't have to (or don't think about) checking out or requesting queer books from the library specifically because they *can* buy them, can pirate them, or already have them in their house or on their computers or phones. But in instances like that, keeping these books in circulation is less for you and more for the people who can't. The folks who come to the library, who don't have access to internet--or even electricity--at home and would never--have never--been able to interact with this "ubiquitous queer community" we have here online who has made so many of these. materials so avaliable to the rest of us.

And... if I can be a little frank. Sometimes the hyperaccessibility of these materials online (through pirating, cheap e-book copies, etc) gives people a false sense of security. It implies that these things are an infinate resource, good for "When I get around to it".

And often, you won't. There's so much to read and so much to do. So much to download and so much to sit down and stare at for hours. That kind of mental scope puts books in people's hands (or phones), but never in their heads.

But the moment your favorite document archival site gets knocked offline for breaching copyright or your go-to mega corporate audiobook distributor decides it doesn't want "those" materials anymore, what's left? What did you download? What information did you internalize? Did you ever get around to it? If you did, great, but what good does that do for the person who didn't? Are you going to be the one to redistribute that information? Are you going to communicate it in the place of the author whose words are no longer publically accesible or, mostly avaliable, but only behind hefty paywalls and financial gatekeeping? How would someone else get a hold of it? How could they, if they wanted?

[vtothefun]

This is excellent info.

What are some good books to check out for those who can?

[mossworth]

Gosh... there's so many options. I wouldn't know where to start without knowing who I'm talking to and what they're looking for. What I can recommend is for folks to check out creators like @makingqueerhistory who have spent just a ridiculously beautiful amount of time collecting queer history and book lists! You'll find something in seconds reading their page.

Personal pitch: I liked the books Tar Hollow Trans and Gay Poems for Red States. Both great.

[makingqueerhistory]

I'm glad I was tagged in this because it means I can cosign (and also add a little nugget of info).

I live in a province that is currently trying to ban queer books from libraries, and as a library patron, this is terrifying. 95% of the books I read are from the library and a lot of them are way out of my budget to buy personally.

Making Queer History would not exist without the school library I skipped class in to write articles. It would not exist without my friends with library cards for their universities sharing them and getting me access to rare texts. I would not be able to read as much as I do without Libby and Hoopla. If I have ever given you a book recommendation, know that I likely got it from the library first.

I cannot overstate the importance of protecting libraries and checking out queer books. And I want to say thank you to everyone above for being as passionate as I am about queer books in libraries.

Love y'all <3

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

Come love, make me better than I was.

Come teach me a kinder way to say my own name.

Come knowing I, like everyone, have had my own blood on my hands.

Come help me to a gentler truth. Episode 20 or Wen Kexing's origins | Andrea Gibson, "Good Light"

Shidi. A-Xu, what nonsense are you calling me? What is wrong with you today? Have you deviated into insanity?

[supertaliart]

@sirenofthegreenbanks and @lyasshelves asked for Word of Honor so here’s a Post-it Gu Xiang!! My beautiful girl!

[greeds]

i always found it really endearing that olruggio chose to take a nap in the room where qifrey was teaching the girls. sometimes you just wanna rest where there’s people

[lyasshelves]

Reading TYK – Chapter 42 (“Great ruckus”) and 43 (“Rescue mission”)

In which wenzhou is waxing poetic out of sadness and poor Chengling is being bullied into fighting

Novel translation by Wenbuxing – Tag for those chapters posts is "Lya reads tyk"

- A good chunk of the chapter is just Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing each on their side reflecting on life, death and the cruelty of fate. Also, on Zhou Zishu’s choice about the nails. I liked the writing of it all.

If he was missing a good portion of his soul, if he had not this last bit of dignity, was it not an empty existence that was only fulfilled by dying? He indeed wished to live, but he did not wish to do so barely clinging onto his last thread of life.

- Gu Xiang gets asked if she likes “that dumb boy Cao Weining” and the answer is yes. They’re going to save him!

I don’t know what happened, but the translation I’m using was missing a good two pages at the end of the chapter (and also all its footnotes), so I had to switch to Xuxunette’s translation for the rest of it.

- I love moments where Gu Xiang fights. Go, girl!

- Glad to see that here too, Wen Kexing tends to use the walnuts as weapons by throwing them at people. But Zhou Zishu does not like that, he hates the things :D

- Hey don’t boot your poor disciple like that, Zhou Zishu! Poor baby is being forced to fight. :( But he’s doing okay. Clumsily, apparently, but somewhat okay.

- Wen Kexing calling himself “grandpa” and charging into the fray, laughing, to help the kids. Meanwhile, Zhou Zishu just looks on (and keeps the bag of nuts. At a safe distance.)

- Bless Mo Huaikong, pretending Gu Xiang beat him too hard to give them an opportunity to flee.

- Zhou Zishu grudgingly praising Chengling in typical Zhou Zishu fashion: “passable”, because he could not stand the puppy eyes his disciple was giving him.

- Oh. Oh. That scene at the end. Where Zhou Zishu grabbed Wen Kexing’s face and just intently stared at him for a long time. Wen Kexing apparently blushing. Zhou Zishu laughing. I don’t know what that was exactly but I’m loving it.

Ye Baiyi seems to be back. Onto the next chapter!

[asturlavi]

[loomka]

Xie Lian sketch dump <3

[lyasshelves]

Reading TYK – Chapter 41: “Despair”

In which Lord Seventh and the Great Shaman seem to be greatly amused by wenzhou’s dynamic

Novel translation by Wenbuxing – Tag for those chapters posts is "Lya reads tyk"

- I like how Wen Kexing and the Great Shaman saw each other, exchanged a silent gaze, then looked aside.

- Oh, Zhou Zishu is really feeling at ease : he took off his mask and even mentioned Jiuxiao.

"Something had been cast out of his chest" I mean, being with people who know you is something that often helps...

- Wen Kexing going from "that man is incredibly handsome" (about Jing Beiyuan) to "actually he's not that great. And he's suspicious" in the span of 2 minutes because he was jealous. A-Xu took off his mask and is answering Lord Seventh with none of the snark he has for him and the man also knows his real name and Wen Kexing does not like that.

- Zishu, what's with the hesitation here?

"A…friend…from the jianghu…"

And of course Wen Kexing is having none of that:

“A friend from the jianghu? That’s not what you said to me previously, why, A-Xu, are you planning on abandoning me after you’ve toyed with me?”

I would have paid for Lord Seventh and the Great Shaman's thoughts when they saw/heard all that :D because the former instantly pokes fun at Zhou Zishu.

- Gu Xiang and Zhang Chengling just watching this unfold with great confusion.

- Wen Kexing, please. This is especially funny coming from you:

[He] felt that this person spoke confusingly by using pretentious references from literary works and cobbling unrelated events together.

- How the hell did the Great Shaman know exactly what Zhou Zishu had done with the Nails to keep his abilities by just feeling his pulse ??

- Wen Kexing feeling panic rise in him when waiting for his answer.

- Oh, so Great Shaman can’t help Zhou Zishu out ? Ye Baiyi couldn’t either so ??

Just now, when the Great Shaman had spoken, he still had a few slivers of hope, even if he did not make them known. Otherwise, he would not have presented his wrist. He, too, did not know when it had begun—maybe it was because of these few noise people by his side, or maybe it was because he had been dragged into those troublesome affairs, that he had begun to be sentimentally attached to this mortal dust.

He doesn’t want to die anymore and doesn’t even know since when but it’s too late anyway I’m... aahhhhh

And he immediately puts up a front and chuckles like it’s nothing. Like you do.

- Wen Kexing made him halt the second Wu Xi made it sound like he maybe had an idea to save Zhou Zishu he’s so hopeful

Ah ! So, Priest just gave the suggestion of abolishing Zhou Zishu’s martial arts to save him to Wu Xi (and not to Ye Baiyi, like the show did).

“I may have a fifth of confidence that I can save…”

Is he being modest here or would the odds really be that small?? That’s even worse; even if Zhou Zishu agreed to get rid of his abilities, he still wouldn’t be sure that it worked.

But of course, Wen Kexing’s hope gets crushed because there’s no way Zhou Zishu would agree to that.

“What else do I have left, if I rid this body of mine of martial ability? Will I still be myself? If I am no longer myself, why should I still keep living?”

And I understand him for that. I do. But ahhhh

(Here my brain helpfully provided me with Wen Kexing’s line from the show, tone and all: “But you have to stay alive!”)

Onto the next chapters!

[lyasscribbles]

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

Chapters: 1/2 

Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences 

Relationships: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu 

Characters: Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu 

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, (for chapter 2), POV Zhou Zishu 

Word count : 2187 words

Series: Part 3 of The world is not important, what is important is finding wenzhou (Part 1 was the “calling your name three times in the sun” from episode 12 and part 2 was the scene on the clifftop in episode 32)

Summary:

“Please escort me… Please escort me back to have a look, will you?” For a few seconds, Zhou Zishu only stares at him. His unspoken lie hangs in the silence between them, dragging his heart even further down. He can feel his soul crumble and wither like paper to a flame. 

He fights for his face to remain neutral until he finds the strength to shift his hand to hold Lao Wen’s wrist gently, answering in a voice going hoarse at the edges from his throat constricting again.

“Ok. I’ll go with you.”

A written version exploring the feelings of the scene in episode 34, where Wen Kexing is drunk and happy because he thinks all his worries are gone; meanwhile Zhou Zishu has a countdown of mere days to live hanging above his head and is trying not to cry.

[lyasscribbles]

Chapter 2 is also up, now ! :)

With this chapter, the fic is now about 2800 words.

[lyasshelves]

10 shows that spark joy

Tagged both by @sirenofthegreenbanks and @erumelde Thank you !

rules: make a poll with 10 of your favorite shows, they can be just 10 shows you loved watching or your top 10 tv shows of all time, then tag 10 people

which one sparks the most joy ?

とんがり帽子のアトリエ (Witch Hat Atelier)

时光代理人 (Link Click)

Spy X Family

山河令 (Word of Honor)

苍兰诀 (Love between fairy and devil)

ダンジョン飯 (Dungeon meshi/Delicious in Dungeon)

Arcane

陈情令 (The Untamed)

違国日記 (Journal with Witch)

薬屋のひとりごと (The Apothecary Diaries)

Remaining time: 3 days 11 hours

[gynii]

"Rooftop Magic" risoprint, light mauve and light teal

Aka she witch on my hat til I atelier ✨️

[lyasshelves]

Reading TYK – Chapter 39 (“Escaping danger”) and 40 (“Lord Seventh”)

In which Gu Xiang gets to be badass, and Lord Seventh appears.

Novel translation by Wenbuxing – Tag for those chapters posts is "Lya reads tyk"

- Why the heck are there TWO chapters with the title “Lord Seventh”??

- Oh. Wen Kexing did put on the mask Zhou Zishu threw at him. I didn’t expect him to.

- Zhou Zishu’s answer to Wen Kexing asking why he cares so much about Chengling not dying:

“He is my disciple.”

Stopped denying it, did you?

- Loved that fight where Gu Xiang and Cao Weining kicked ass. Also! Chengling fighting back (or trying to, at least), by following what Wen Kexing taught him.

- I’m liking Lord Seventh this far!

- Poor Gu Xiang trying to not spill everything they know but being bad at making up lies. And Chengling’s earnestness does not help either.

- I do wonder, thought, how Lord Seventh knew Chengling’s shifu was Zhou Zishu ? Did he just go “Scorpions = troubles and troubles = Zhou Zishu” or what ?

I'm sure the two masters are going to go pick up their respective kids soon, and I am waiting for the encounter witth Lord Seventh.

Onto the next chapters!

[yingui]

the pain that disappears into the night. the path that opens at dawn. your hand in mine.

[lyasshelves]

Reading TYK – Chapter 38 (“Deadlock”)

In which masks get taken off

Novel translation by Wenbuxing– Tag for those chapters posts is "Lya reads tyk"

- Wen Kexing is mesmerized. And speechless. Yes, A-Xu’s finally taking off his disguise and I’d probably be just as fascinated where I in Wen Kexing’s place.

- The reason he took it off is because it’s now attracting trouble because those sect members started recognising him and it annoyed him.

“Have…I ever mentioned that I actually like men?”

lmfao let me see *checks notes* yes. Yes you did. A dozen times at least. He is so speechless it’s cute.

And as usual, Zhou Zishu does not get it.

I love Wen kexing in this chapter :

“He […] only stared insistently at Zhou Zishu, his tone severe and serious as he said, “Is this your attempt at seducing me?”

Like there’s any need for that. Wen Kexing, you’re too easy to seduce, when it comes to Zhou Zishu.

And Zhou Zishu’s thoughts after that...priceless:

Otherwise, why would he forgo pestering those pretty lasses and lads milling about on the streets, in favour of badgering him specifically to disgust him for his own entertainment?

I love how it constantly does not occur to him that Wen Kexing might be sincere, at least in that.

- Immediately slaps on a new mask – much to Wen Kexing’s horror. How many of these do you have stashed on you??

Aaand they’re fighting over the new one.

- This exchange:

“Hey, let’s discuss something. I see that you’re also single, so how about the two of us make do with each other?” […] “What would I want you for?” [Wen Kexing snatches Zhou Zishu’s hand and crazes it on his chin] “What do you think?” “Keep you, so that I can slaughter you for meat when a famine hits?”

Followed by Zhou Zishu giving him a rather strong kick in the knee.

- The way the narrative chose to transition from these two to what Chengling and the others were doing is killing me:

“While the two old masters left carefreely to flirt with each other, […]”

Onto the next chapter!

[junodoom]

it's wen ning's birthday today! everyone tell him happy birthday!