[notacatdown]

[Placeholder]

Differences between The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus's novel and manhua

List of translations for Douyin videos + missing scenes from the leaked script (mostly for Love Game in Eastern Fantasy)

Cute fanart from Xiaohongshu and Weibo

Similarities between The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus and Scum Villain Self-Saving System

The black lotus I wish we could have seen in the early episodes

Mu Sheng's favorability drop in ep 6

Favorability required to get bunny apples from Mu Sheng?

Ramblings about how demons and love are depicted differently in novel and drama

---

[barananduen-blog]

POLL FOR CDRAMA TUMBLR

If you're in cdrama tumblr and would like, please reblog to help get a bigger sample. Thanks in advance! 💞

People here who watch CDdramas: Can you understand spoken Mandarin without the aid of subtitles?

Yes

No

[Results Button / not a cdrama-watcher]

Voting ended onMay 11

[renewedmotionforjudgment]

Unpopular cdrama opinion question - popular cdrama actor and/or actress you dislike 😈😈😈

MOUSIE 🤣🤣🤣

Okay here goes — Ding Yuxi. I don’t dispute that he’s a good actor and maybe it’s a role issue (I liked him fine in Moonlight) but he’s like the actor that calms down my hormones instead of making them react in historicals or costume adjacent. 💀💀💀

*ducks*

[dangermousie]

I will join you in ducking - loved him in Tiger/Rose and nothing since. In fact, he’s been running a reign of terror in adaptations of my favorite novels and starring in such terrible stuff that I now instinctively shudder when I see him cast because I know it will be a disaster.

[notacatdown]

"running a reign of terror" 🤣 His acting is so fun to watch, but the scripts are so incredibly disappointing.

The Palace Stewardess 司宫令 looked interesting until I saw that it's the same screenwriter as Fight for Love 😭

At this point, all of my favorite historical-ish romance webnovels have been made into dramas except for Marry the Villain. A year ago, there were rumors that Ding Yuxi and Lu Yuxiao would be the leads for it. Anyways, your post inspired me to do a quick translation of this fan-made trailer of Marry the Villain. Second half was fun to watch! Credits to: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1PxyQBYEjx/

[aljojo2001]

I think one of the funniest slanders in harem dramas is when one would accuse a concubine of seducing the emperor or slander her with seductress or she would get punished for seducing the emperor

Like isn't that part of their job? I mean the concubine in the harem have two goals as I know entertaining the emperor and having his children which also can't happen without her trying to seduce him or she would die alone

[guzhuangheaven]

Assuming this is an actual source of confusion, there is a certain…logic to this line of thinking.

The job of the emperor’s concubines (or the empress for that matter) is not to seduce the emperor. Yes they are supposed to have children, but the sex that is supposed to lead to that is supposed to be the emperor’s favour to bestow in a quite literal sense - i.e. he comes to them, in theory dividing his attention equally, but they, being virginal and virtuous women, are not supposed to pull him in, or resent him or each other when he does divide his attention. Yes, the emperor has the prerogative to focus his attention on one particular woman, and in reality of course emperors do this, but that’s not strictly seen as a good thing to do. If anything, the mark of a fair emperor would be to bestow favour equally among his women, or at least proportionately equal according to their rank. This is why you have these theoretical monthly schedule about how the emperor spends his nights. It’s quite clinical and it’s hard not to be considering the eunuchs are also right outside the bedroom reminding them of the time.

So when the emperor does spend more time than is considered fair with a certain woman, he’s being self-indulgent and unfair to everyone else, because the power is with him. You do occasionally get scenes of eunuchs and court officials chastising the emperor of being over-indulgent if he spends excessive time with women (in general) to the detriment of state affairs, but at the same time, you can’t really (just) accuse the emperor of being self-indulgent. So the (one particular) woman he favours becomes the scapegoat – she must be corrupting him and seducing him otherwise he would never forget his duty to divide his favour equally or his duty to actually run the country. Gendered expectations can also hold women accountable for the actions of men in an intimate relationship, so the women are supposed to be able to cajole and advise the emperor into doing the perceived right thing. In this case, the right thing is to not spend all his time with her, but to also go see his other wives and concubines so that everyone receives favour equally, so that in theory no one is resentful of anyone. In reality, of course it doesn’t work like this.

(The idea that women are accountable for men’s action and are supposed to be able to influence them into doing the right thing is still very prevalent today if you see it through the lens of victim blaming when men cheat or commit violence, but also ‘I can fix him’. Except, in the case of the emperor’s favour, ‘fix him’ involves being self-sacrificial for the greater good of allowing the emperor to spread his favour among as many women as possible to have as many children as possible. In modern day, it's basically allowing him to cheat and stay for the children and bend over backwards to try and keep him and all that nonesense.)

Another thing about the emperor’s favour being something that is bestowed on his concubines, it means that they’re just supposed to happily and passively receive it. Showing any agency (or being perceived in showing agency) in trying to draw the emperor in is a bad thing, because it shows that these women can and do have influence over him against his duties and better judgement, which means she can theoretically interfere in state matters, which is overstepping, which is bad etc. etc.

All of this is obviously patriarchal and sexist, but it isn’t arbitrary or just people being dumb or necessarily oblivious or hypocritical for the lulz in dramas.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

You just have to love (sarcasm) the insane double standards they set up. A woman can be divorced for not bearing a child, but of course she can't SEDUCE her husband/the emperor into sleeping with her, that just should happen naturally without her putting any effort in at all. She is one of 100 women. How dare she compete!

Reading Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir really made me feel for all these women competing for their husband's favour. They really don't have anything else to do (especially if they don't have a child yet), they are supposed to feel zero jealousy (lol), and behave with all this maturity despite being in their late teens. It's setting women up for failure and then blaming it on their lack of virtue.

[notacatdown]

Yes! It feels like they're being thrown to the wolves.

Do you remember Peng Xin from the Dreamer's extras? She's a princess from a monogamous country that needs to go through with an alliance marriage to a man from a paternalistic, polygamous country. She's introduced as a character that feels guilty that her mother was the other woman. And she choses to marry Ning Mingjie (2ML), a man that already has concubines. I initially thought was so stupid of her.

But now that I'm older, I think its a rational choice. Her family members (her father and brother-in-law) have shown her that men won't stay faithful, so she might as well go for a hot guy that appreciate her abilities in war. If she tries to go against a polygamous society, she will have to fight for it for the rest of her life and always be on guard. That's exhausting. Like Zhu Yurun, she makes the best choice for her, and the narrative doesn't punish her for it. I love that.

[notacatdown]

I went to look for How Dare You BTS after seeing Dangermousie's post about the donghua, but the production still hasn't released much. The closest thing I found was a fan-complication of scenes from the show. During a livestream, Cheng Lei mentioned the kissing scene was longer, and fans are hoping BTS for that will get released.

^ Video from 搬走猫猫头

[chenlesdaisy]

rewatching this scene is so funny like. he's getting accused of stealing the map, not caring about getting revenge because he isn't a biological descendant of the mu clan, and getting likened to a demon. And the first time I watched it I felt so bad for him, like, miaomiao obviously destroyed the map, and yeah he isn't biologically related to mu yao but that doesn't make him less of a mu, and they're demon hunters so comparing him to a demon is too harsh, right? but now I know that mu yao was literally spot on 😭 he is the reason Miaomiao accidentally destroyed the map, and he doesn't care about the mu family, and he even is a half demon like. I thought she was so mean the first time but now I can't help but laugh. Especially at him pulling this pitiful act

[notacatdown]

That scene was so good during first watch and re-watch! I love that Mu Yao knows him so well. I was so excited to see where the story would go, when this is a version where Mu Yao knows her brother very well.

In the novel, I felt bad that Mu Sheng's pitiful puppy behavior doesn't work on Mu Yao because 1) he was innocent and 2) we don't see until much later on that while he's genuinely feeling bad during these type of moments, he's not above hamming it up for sympathy and Mu Yao knows this about her brother.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I read a lot of English/European/North American historical fiction as a kid where paper was treated as more precious than gold and so when I watch historical Cdramas and they are letting children practice on paper instead of chalkboards, flinging paper around as confetti, or most shockingly, calming themselves down by writing words really big on a sheet of paper and then wadding it up and throwing it away... it kind of feels like bragging somehow? Like they are flaunting their superior paper making abilities? Like I can imagine little Mary who was just punished at school for wasting a sheet of paper watching wide-eyed in shock and wondering where all this paper is even coming from.

Anyway, I also wonder if there is a reverse case when people watch European/North American period dramas.

(Spent a while researching the history of paper making and the Europeans were pitifully behind the Chinese for centuries)

(I even knew some older adults who treated paper like this when I was young. Very precious cannot waste paper ever amen)

[notacatdown]

"most shockingly, calming themselves down by writing words really big on a sheet of paper and then wadding it up and throwing it away." 🤣 a classic in C-dramas.

1.) Not having to live with in your in-laws. While I was reading your Northanger Abbey Readthrough, I had the thought, is marrying Henry really a good choice? After marriage, Catherine will have suffer through a meal with his father every day until he dies. I've been reading too many Chinese webnovels and momentarily forgot that it would be perfectly normal for Henry and Catherine to live separately.

2.) Glasses: the clear glass in mirrors compared to the bronze ones in ancient China, the cathedrals with their beautiful panes of stained glass, eyeglasses, and the clear wine glasses.

3.) That Europe's textile inventions and innovations and adoptions allowed the peasantry and working class to have a little bit more clothes. Not an issue for the wealthy on either side.

4.) Europe's cultural encouragement and positivity towards polymaths instead of forced specialization and segregation in knowledge. After the decline of Mohism (around 230-221 BC), I don't think there was a popular school of thought that supports its followers to value scientific thinking and to seek knowledge in other fields. Even in modern-times, high school students have to chose between humanities and science, at least in China and Japan.

Of course, Asian countries have their own specialties in technological innovations despite this. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh. Whenever I read a Chinese webnovel set in Qin Dynasty or earlier, the protagonist will support or favor Mohism, so I think the decline of that school is seen as a loss from a historical standpoint. This is my impression from reading webnovels, so it could be terribly inaccurate. Would be happy to be corrected.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

The glass one is interesting because we call porcelain "china" most commonly in English because, from what I understand, the far superior products came from the East. But I have heard that Italy was very good at glass making. The word is better when we share I guess is the lesson here.

Lol about living with General Tilney!

As for streaming education, I think this is a difference but perhaps not one that can be judged as right or wrong? Sometimes I wish my country (Canada) did earlier streaming of high school students into trade schools and university track, but until recently they oversold university and now we have not enough tradespeople and unhappy people who can't get jobs they want. That's not exactly the same as humanities vs. science, but same sort of idea maybe?

Edit: the umbrella technology seems far superior, but I suppose that's paper related too!

[notacatdown]

"we call porcelain "china" most commonly in English". Ohh! I didn't make that connection. I think the Renaissance ideal would lead to more inventions and innovations, but I agree that I only see one side of it.

I also agree that for a student, having to decide your study area in high school could be good option and a more efficient one. I learned so much stuff in high school and college that I would never use. I can't argue that this was a good use of time and money.

I really admire a childhood friend, who decided to go to trade school instead of college. He has a job that he's good at, enjoys, and pays well. When I was 18, it wouldn't even occur to me to go against my parents on something so important and that he did something so different from the rest of his high school classmates, so I find that so impressive.

For the trade school part, in China, if a student doesn't score high enough on Zhongkao (中考), then their only choice is to go to vocational high school or go straight to work, unless their parents are rich, and they can go to international schools. Japan and Singapore have similar systems. My problem with it is, these vocational school are looked down upon on. I think it's brutal for a person's academic and life path to be determined at 15 years old based on a single test. Oh, I didn't know that about umbrellas. I wish it was a thing outside of Asia to use sun umbrellas. In high school, it felt too awkward to use them 😅. In my 30's, I still find it uncomfortably awkward, but I will use them on super sunny, hot days. Umbrellas are like portable shade.

Edited: Not something I noticed. In the Chinese comment section of Princess in Poverty, the readers mentioned the intricate lacemaking (Is that something gentry women would do to pass the time? Or is it more working class thing to earn money?) and that Europe has a greater variety of desserts compared to China in Jane Austen's time.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I read a lot of English/European/North American historical fiction as a kid where paper was treated as more precious than gold and so when I watch historical Cdramas and they are letting children practice on paper instead of chalkboards, flinging paper around as confetti, or most shockingly, calming themselves down by writing words really big on a sheet of paper and then wadding it up and throwing it away... it kind of feels like bragging somehow? Like they are flaunting their superior paper making abilities? Like I can imagine little Mary who was just punished at school for wasting a sheet of paper watching wide-eyed in shock and wondering where all this paper is even coming from.

Anyway, I also wonder if there is a reverse case when people watch European/North American period dramas.

(Spent a while researching the history of paper making and the Europeans were pitifully behind the Chinese for centuries)

(I even knew some older adults who treated paper like this when I was young. Very precious cannot waste paper ever amen)

[notacatdown]

"most shockingly, calming themselves down by writing words really big on a sheet of paper and then wadding it up and throwing it away." 🤣 a classic in C-dramas.

1.) Not having to live with in your in-laws. While I was reading your Northanger Abbey Readthrough, I had the thought, is marrying Henry really a good choice? After marriage, Catherine will have suffer through a meal with his father every day until he dies. I've been reading too many Chinese webnovels and momentarily forgot that it would be perfectly normal for Henry and Catherine to live separately.

2.) Glasses: the clear glass in mirrors compared to the bronze ones in ancient China, the cathedrals with their beautiful panes of stained glass, eyeglasses, and the clear wine glasses.

3.) That Europe's textile inventions and innovations and adoptions allowed the peasantry and working class to have a little bit more clothes. Not an issue for the wealthy on either side.

4.) Europe's cultural encouragement and positivity towards polymaths instead of forced specialization and segregation in knowledge. After the decline of Mohism (around 230-221 BC), I don't think there was a popular school of thought that supports its followers to value scientific thinking and to seek knowledge in other fields. Even in modern-times, high school students have to chose between humanities and science, at least in China and Japan.

Of course, Asian countries have their own specialties in technological innovations despite this. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh. Whenever I read a Chinese webnovel set in Qin Dynasty or earlier, the protagonist will support or favor Mohism, so I think the decline of that school is seen as a loss from a historical standpoint. This is my impression from reading webnovels, so it could be terribly inaccurate. Would be happy to be corrected.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Ever since he saw Bo Li being in the same room as the deformed people, he had a hard time suppressing his murderous intent. This was unnecessary. There was no reason to be emotionally affected by her. And yet, his murderous intent kept growing.

When he saw her taking those deformed people to the house, choosing clothes for them, baking biscuits for them, shaking their hands, and hugging them, for a moment, he wanted to kill everyone in the room. He quickly looked away to calm himself down and get rid of that strange impulse. However, no matter where he looked, every object looked like a good murder weapon.

Table knives, forks, plates once shattered, the ropes on the curtains, the poker in the fireplace, the coal tongs, the antlers above the fireplace… As long as he wanted, this place could turn into a horrific slaughterhouse. But, why did he want to kill people for her?

How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy

Well, Erik is even crazier than Ning Yin from Marry the Villain. At least Ning Yin figured out he was experiencing jealousy far earlier than Erik and his attempts to kill the female lead I think stopped at one? I've never actually read Phantom of the Opera but Erik in this is far more insane and murderous than the musical version (this is based on both the original and a horror movie take as far as I understand)

[notacatdown]

Agree that he's crazier than Ning Yin. I can't think of any ML from a Chinese webnovel that comes close to Erik's craziness. He feels toned down from the original work.

I watched the musical -> Susan Kay's version -> Gaston Leroux's original work. Also watched the 2004 film adaptation. Agree 100% with lauriab that he's a bit of a drama queen in that version.

I say this lovingly. Leroux's Erik is off his rockers. I couldn't really tell for sure when Erik is lucid and lying vs when he's lost his grasp on reality and he believes the surreal truth that he's telling others.

https://www.tumblr.com/lauriab/749620711915700224/welcome-to-the-phandom-here-is-the-fullest-list

^ Scroll all the way down. This is a hilarious - and I think accurate list - for the different Eriks in the various versions of Phantom of Opera.

[valtsv]

my honest opinion is that all fictional romantic couples should be separated by death and the surviving one should develop an unhealthy and offputting obsession with the dead one's rotting corpse

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Yay! They will be addressing the weirdest thing about Kdrama idols, to me personally

I find it so strange that they aren't "allowed" to date. Who even wants a 30 year old man who hasn't had a starter girlfriend? It's such a bizarre standard. Let them date!

Hollywood paparazzi is obnoxious about dating and can be mean to women who date too much (Taylor Swift) but this is the one area where I always feel like Hollywood is slightly healthier?

[notacatdown]

I thought this too! My friend explained it as:

"The idol is selling a dream. You think of him as a "boyfriend". You fall "in love" with him. Him having a girlfriend or wife ruins that fantasy". "Girlfriend fans" "love" their idol. They don't want them with another woman. It goes along with you don't want to see him in shorts, sandals, hair uncombed."

I don't know if this is limited to Chinese culture or its true for other Asian cultures too, but there's an obsession with purity. On JJWXC, the authors will note ML is a virgin by writing "C" or not. I couldn't figure out why they use the letter C, and my friend answered the C stands for clean. JJWXC skews towards a young audience, so I like to think the older fans and readers would be more reasonable.

The CEO MLs in older webnovels were germaphobes or some other characteristic, so they've never date. But in newer webnovels, that condition is removed, and they're in their late 20's or early 30's and chose to never date. And the FL and/or her friends see him as a rare catch. I find it so weird. I was reading this webnovel where the ML and FL are kissing, and the FL suddenly feels nauseous when she thinks about how he's kissed other women. Of course, he is the ML, and he has not.

I think I'm getting too old to read the newer webnovels. Can't keep up with the times.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

It kind of seems like people got angry that purity only applied to women, which is valid, but instead of trying to argue that purity should apply to no one, they want it to apply to both sexes. Which to me personally seems like the wrong way to go. The obsession with first love is fine in dramas but I think dating multiple people and figuring out what you really want out of a relationship is a healthy part of life!

Also, you have a weak-sauce imagination if someone being married ruins your fantasies of them as your boyfriend. Just daydream that their significant other died in a tragic car crash and then you came in and brought light back into their life! Or whatever, it's not that hard. Teenage me was not deterred when my favourite actors got married or dated (not that I really wanted to be with them anyway)

[notacatdown]

"Which to me personally seems like the wrong way to go."

I see this in how the usage of 男德/male virtue has changed.

"The term "male virtue" originated from a slogan in a small shop in Chengdu in 2019, humorously satirizing traditional notions of "female virtue." This was followed by the emergence of parodies online, such as "Rules for Good Men". It sparked social discussions about gender double standards. By 2021, the term was widely used by netizens to criticize male behavior that infringed upon women's rights, leading to the creation of "male virtue" Weibo accounts. As of 2023, the term "male virtue" has shifted to a more neutral, even humorous, connotation, becoming one of the standards used in the entertainment industry to evaluate the behavior of male celebrities." - from Baidu

That the term went from the creator using it to express that traditional ideas of female virtues are absurd and unfair, to people using it as, hey this is a good standard. Let's do this to men.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Yay! They will be addressing the weirdest thing about Kdrama idols, to me personally

I find it so strange that they aren't "allowed" to date. Who even wants a 30 year old man who hasn't had a starter girlfriend? It's such a bizarre standard. Let them date!

Hollywood paparazzi is obnoxious about dating and can be mean to women who date too much (Taylor Swift) but this is the one area where I always feel like Hollywood is slightly healthier?

[notacatdown]

I thought this too! My friend explained it as:

"The idol is selling a dream. You think of him as a "boyfriend". You fall "in love" with him. Him having a girlfriend or wife ruins that fantasy". "Girlfriend fans" "love" their idol. They don't want them with another woman. It goes along with you don't want to see him in shorts, sandals, hair uncombed."

I don't know if this is limited to Chinese culture or its true for other Asian cultures too, but there's an obsession with purity. On JJWXC, the authors will note ML is a virgin by writing "C" or not. I couldn't figure out why they use the letter C, and my friend answered the C stands for clean. JJWXC skews towards a young audience, so I like to think the older fans and readers would be more reasonable.

The CEO MLs in older webnovels were germaphobes or some other characteristic, so they've never date. But in newer webnovels, that condition is removed, and they're in their late 20's or early 30's and chose to never date. And the FL and/or her friends see him as a rare catch. I find it so weird. I was reading this webnovel where the ML and FL are kissing, and the FL suddenly feels nauseous when she thinks about how he's kissed other women. Of course, he is the ML, and he has not.

I think I'm getting too old to read the newer webnovels. Can't keep up with the times.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Marquis Moyu glanced at her before lightly smiling and said, “Ling-er can’t be blamed for saying that I’ve been giving you the cold shoulder. The last time that I favored you was a year ago.”

Ji Man inwardly cursed. If he only had intimate relations with Nie Sangyu once a year, what person wouldn’t go insane? He was a man that drove his own woman towards insanity. What right did this man have to call Nie Sangyu a vicious woman when he was doing something like this?

The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

I have not read or watched a true harem-type drama before, and it's making me so angry on the ancient women's behalf. Of course they were all scheming and vying for favour, what else did they even have to do? These women need hobbies and less double standards. Like you aren't allowed to be jealous but you can also be divorced for not bearing a son? Grrrr

[notacatdown]

Oh, your view is so interesting! I didn't think of it from that perspective until you brought it up.

For the C-dramas made in the 90's and earlier that I watched as a kid, the female characters' only purpose is to be love interests. It's only in harem intrigue stories that women are the protagonists, and I get to see a full array of personalities. The women's goal is to get their husband's favor, and they're smart enough to know his favor is temporary, which leads to their obsession with having sons and helping their fathers' families.

I like how in Dreamer, only people that are protected by others get to stay foolish and believe that romantic love is important.

"Ning Yuxuan raised his head. His eyes were full of sincerity. “This son truly loves Wen Wan. This is why I want to give her the best position.”

Love.

Old madame stared blankly at him for a long time. Wen Wan, who was still kneeling, started to cry again.

Ji Man found his words laughable, but Nie Sangyu felt as if her heart was being ripped out. Ji Man couldn’t help furrowing her brow.

Among the nobles, generals, and officials’ families, the most unspeakable word was love and the most difficult thing to obtain was sincere love. Old madame had loved Marquis Pingnan for over half of her life, but she had never said this word. And now, she was hearing the word “love” from her son’s mouth.

After she returned to her senses, old madame actually laughed. She laughed until her shoulders shook. “Xuan-er, do you know what love is?” - from chapter 34.

I think it'll be hinted later on that Old Madame killed off Ning Yuxuan's half-brothers, and he was kept in the dark. I like how she thinks her son is so stupid.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

It is very much hinted that Old Madame killed off all of her son's rivals, which is wild.

And yeah, you can only be stupid if someone loves you, unfortunately, love doesn't last forever...

[notacatdown]

Oh that too. I was thinking more parental love. Ning Yuxuan can believe in love because he had a mother that kept him out of harm's way when his father was alive. And then later on, his mother keeps his harem under control. All he does is dole out treats when he's in the mood. His harem goes out of control once she dies.

Or Nie Sangyu, she can persist in her love for him because she has the support of Old Madame and her brother. If she had parents that sold her like Mu Shuiqing or a person with a brother to support like Liu Hanyun, she wouldn't persist in thinking that love is important.

Or Nie Qingyun, he originally doesn't have interest in falling in love. He found out his mom killed her sister, Nie Sangyu's mom, when he was a little kid. And his dad, who claims that Nie Sangyu's mom is his unforgettable true love, can knowingly continue sleeping and having children with her murderer.

Or Pengyue and the second prince. Once Pengyue's mother dies and her family no longer provides him miltary support, her beautiful love story turns into a tragedy.

Or Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen. While Qian Yingchen is a much better person than the second prince, a huge factor is that her father is his superior. She can continue to be stupid because her father is willing to indulge her.

I think the contradictoriness of the daughter not being considered the heir in Love in the Clouds. https://www.tumblr.com/fake-married-my-dead-fiance/799114437999083520 is because the author sees that as loving their daughter by giving her the gift of not having responsibilities.

I speculate that the author could have a similar upbringing as my maternal side of the family. Where the sons are very harshly brought up and expected to be responsible to their sisters, and the daughters are spoiled, but will not be given an inheritance outside of their dowry. It doesn't upset me that only my brother is included in my parents' will. My childhood was so happy compared to his.

It wasn't until high school that I learned about a third option. When my friend's friend mentioned he reported his parents to child services, and after that, his parents treat him as dead. They don't talk to him when he's at home and leave money for him to buy food, but the beatings have stopped!

That part in Love in the Clouds where FL says to the ML if other women were given the same education as her, there would be a second, third, fourth her. She's not unique. Compared to Ji Man that sees herself as unique for her modern-day upbringing and the world setting that women can only gain rights if they lose their identity as women, it felt like the author's viewpoint had become more mature or more optimistic?

She wrote Dreamer in her early 20's (late 2014) and Love in the Clouds in her late 20's (late 2021).

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

She had to admit that Ning Yuxuan deserved to be called a man that had experienced many women. He didn’t let her feel the slightest discomfort. Other than a small amount of pain initially, she could positively rate him with five out five stars.

The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Those sisters in the inner court hadn’t lied to her. When it came to size and skill, Ji Bozai was indeed the best. She had truly tasted the pleasures of the flesh, and it wasn’t in vain that she chose him as her first man.

However, it might just be her lack of experience. There would be opportunities to compare with others in the future before making a final judgment.

Love in the Clouds

You can tell these novels are by the same author

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Marquis Moyu glanced at her before lightly smiling and said, “Ling-er can’t be blamed for saying that I’ve been giving you the cold shoulder. The last time that I favored you was a year ago.”

Ji Man inwardly cursed. If he only had intimate relations with Nie Sangyu once a year, what person wouldn’t go insane? He was a man that drove his own woman towards insanity. What right did this man have to call Nie Sangyu a vicious woman when he was doing something like this?

The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

I have not read or watched a true harem-type drama before, and it's making me so angry on the ancient women's behalf. Of course they were all scheming and vying for favour, what else did they even have to do? These women need hobbies and less double standards. Like you aren't allowed to be jealous but you can also be divorced for not bearing a son? Grrrr

[notacatdown]

Oh, your view is so interesting! I didn't think of it from that perspective until you brought it up.

For the C-dramas made in the 90's and earlier that I watched as a kid, the female characters' only purpose is to be love interests. It's only in harem intrigue stories that women are the protagonists, and I get to see a full array of personalities. The women's goal is to get their husband's favor, and they're smart enough to know his favor is temporary, which leads to their obsession with having sons and helping their fathers' families.

I like how in Dreamer, only people that are protected by others get to stay foolish and believe that romantic love is important.

"Ning Yuxuan raised his head. His eyes were full of sincerity. “This son truly loves Wen Wan. This is why I want to give her the best position.”

Love.

Old madame stared blankly at him for a long time. Wen Wan, who was still kneeling, started to cry again.

Ji Man found his words laughable, but Nie Sangyu felt as if her heart was being ripped out. Ji Man couldn’t help furrowing her brow.

Among the nobles, generals, and officials’ families, the most unspeakable word was love and the most difficult thing to obtain was sincere love. Old madame had loved Marquis Pingnan for over half of her life, but she had never said this word. And now, she was hearing the word “love” from her son’s mouth.

After she returned to her senses, old madame actually laughed. She laughed until her shoulders shook. “Xuan-er, do you know what love is?” - from chapter 34.

I think it'll be hinted later on that Old Madame killed off Ning Yuxuan's half-brothers, and he was kept in the dark. I like how she thinks her son is so stupid.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I want to make a formal "to read" list of Cnovels. Suggest me your favourites or send me a recommendation post if you have one. My plan is to read Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir next

Criteria:

Must be at least machine translated with the pronouns fixed, preferably fan translation. I just can't do raws unless it's only a few chapters at the end

My favourites so far are Marry the Villain/Redeem Him and A Decade of Nightscape Lights (And Chasing Jade, and Love in the Clouds... I've liked a lot of them)

I am interested in historical or fantasy. Unlikely to read modern.

Doesn't have to be fully romance focused but I do love insane romances

If you get me to read something that may be released as a drama soon, you must suffer the consequences (I will probably be annoying about my favourite parts that they left out)

Ones I've read so far:

Post by @fake-married-my-dead-fiance

💬 0  🔁 6  ❤️ 36 · Cnovels read: · Links are to translations, Novel name (drama name if different) Lost You Forever Black Moonlight Holds th

[notacatdown]

One of my favorite parts of How Dare You/成何体统 is ML's letter to FL.

"To my wife, Wanyin,

My name is Zhang San.

I am a despicable person.

In that moment you saved me, [but] in the next second, I devised a plan to deceive you.

You came too late.

Wanyin, you fell in love with a madman whose days are numbered." - translation of video

^ Rest of letter from end of ch 20. I understand why he doesn't tell her the truth until this point. He desperately wants his lie to be the truth.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Xianxia Help Forum

Help! My boyfriend lost his memories and now he's attempting world domination again

How to remove "evil bone" from husband (resolved)

Back again. Please explain love to me, I still don't get it. Explain it like you are talking to a toddler - Fate

Why can't a tree of emotions be burned down with Hellfire? Urgent

How to regrow significant other from seed?

[gravitasmalfunction]

10,000 y.o. heartless way cultivator experiencing weird symptoms - could it be cancer?

I raised my son to sacrifice himself for the realm and his stupid wife somehow recovered his soul shards and brought him back to life despite my explicit instructions not to - AITA?

Anyone else here worried their father might be evil? [longest thread in forum history, locked after 100,000 posts]

[tomorrowsdrama]

My distant relatives have literally been leeching off of me and drinking my blood for hundreds of years. AITA for not wanting to give them anymore of my blood?

Hi chat, you’re never going to believe this. Different poster than OP here, but I’d also like to know if I’m an asshole for not wanting to let my relatives and their weird students use my blood. I just want it all to end (and if the world ends too, would that be so bad?)

Hypothetically, how big of an age gap is too big? Is my feisty girlfriend too young for me if I’m over a thousand years older than her? Also, is it weird that she used to be my pet?

Help - I think my girlfriend might bring about the apocalypse! Should that be a dealbreaker? But she’s so small and cute.

Mod: OP please read the forum FAQ before posting. We have many posts that already asked and answered this question. If you’ve read through all those previous posts and still didn’t find an answer, then please provide more information about your situation so we can get more context and provide you with better answers. “My girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/etc. might cause the apocalypse” is overly broad.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

My favourite inanimate object took human form and seems to be in love with me... help

Can I poison a nine-headed snake demon? Check my recipes

Opinion: No age gap is too big when you're immortal

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I'm imagining the age gap discourse having several camps:

1. Anything goes as long as you were never student/master (uh oh)

2. Group doing a millennium version of "half your age + 7"

3. Very vocal minority that have settled on an arbitrary number and call every relationship outside of it "grooming"

4. Heartless cultivator who keeps telling everyone that it doesn't matter because relationships are unnecessary (this person switches out, and then appears on the "dating a demonic cultivator" forum)

[notacatdown]

Help! I'm in love with a woman that's using me as a guinea pig for her shifu's new drugs. I know she's using me, but I fall for it every time.

Alternatively, what could possibly go wrong with raising disciples in paradise and not warning them about the evils of human nature? And then letting them go down the sect's mountain without chaperones?