Sent this to some friends and maybe it’s worth something, maybe it’s not (it’s 6:00 am and I am sleep-deprived and typed this up while sleepy), but here’s some thoughts after watching The Knights of Guinevere!:
Note that I haven’t really participated in trying to learn the series beforehand by digging on the site for clues, so this is all just spitballing thematic analysis based on what the pilot and some trailers gave us:
Obviously it was shown from the beginning that the show would have strong theming, but I find it really neat the contrast of Franchesca and Andi, with the former not working in the main sanitized conglomerate that has taken over the world via unchecked capitalism, and can technically see all the negative effects of this conglomerate on their real world, yet because the conglomerate has such strong marketing and sells this idea of it being a paradise of dreams and her not being able to access the behind-the-scenes stuff of the conglomerate, Franchesca still buys into the dream the conglomerate is selling.
Meanwhile Andi is someone much more disillusioned, having been beaten down by the workplace that is the conglomerate, and yet Frankie looks up to her regardless because she has a “respectable” job at the giant conglomerate.
Although evidently to everyone else after years of the conglomerate’s omnipresence and everything, it can also technically make Andi complicit in what the conglomerate is doing (I feel like her stressing about the law twice also indicates how she doesn’t have the rebellious streak that Frankie does and how she is someone who would follow the system instead), even though she has a low-level position. Hence that parts seller refusing her service despite them once knowing each other, even as she insists she’s just trying to get by like everyone else (it kind of gives the vibes of that comic that criticizes people who say, “Yet you participate in society! Curious” about people who critique the system even as they work in it. Because while she doesn’t really have any intention of changing the system, as shown by her willingness to give up the moralistic high ground to get by, we also know she’s only this way because she—like everyone else—is also a victim of the system).
The stuff with Olivia is interesting too, considering her younger self is shown not to emote (the Wiki even suggests the past traumatic event her father is referring to is what left her unable to emote) and yet her older self does via a breakdown at the idea of her Guinevere being in danger and scared. We don’t see much of her yet but we did get the focus on the family portrait with her mom’s face kind of hidden before we witness what her older self is like, so I can definitely buy into the idea that Guinevere is a kind of replacement mother figure for her (something something then about the dad being a conglomerate boss who doesn’t really raise his daughter and feeds her sanitized dreams and materialistic stuff instead, including potentially a fake replacement mom. Perhaps he was never a truly present father either?).
Also saw a comment say they find it really compelling how the trailers and promo material showed Guinevere as something scary and condemnable (as the face of the conglomerate) yet the pilot shows she’s a victim—which kind of actually demonstrates how easy it is to fall for marketing… Because viewers irl saw the defaced posters of Guinevere in this dystopian world in the trailers and the design of her broken android self and also assumed she would be some sort of negative figure or maybe even a bad guy…
And she is, but evidently we’re also shown she’s technically a victim.
Which actually reminds me of the discourse many people have about how you shouldn’t hate Mickey just because he’s the face of Disney, as he can be an interesting character within his own right (clips of him being “a little shit,” as some people called it, actually went viral again recently on Twitter where people were discussing how he’s a really good character when he isn’t forced to be a mascot).
And that way of looking at it makes one’s analysis of this series even more meta than it would already be, as the idea that media corporations sand down complex characters and even people until they’re just empty shells to be sold (because flexible signifiers are easier to sell than complicated established characters, hence why mascots like Mickey and Hello Kitty exist and sell so well).
Given that this series does feel like a response to how Disney forced Dana Terrace to sand down The Owl House, it feels even further signified by how the show presents a character that has been sanded down to a mascot (Guinevere) (especially since as a humanoid figure, she at first glance would be more of a character but is treated as a flexible mascot—kind of like Hatsune Miku or even Sun Wukong now, yet her image is controlled by one conglomerate rather than by the people, as Miku and Sun Wukong are). This makes it even more so a critique of how creativity suffers under capitalism, alongside the more general anti-capitalist and environmentalist themes.
Finally, not an attempt at analysis but I really like the character of Sparky for being like a fucked up gruff paternal figure to Frankie in the middle of a dystopia where you must prioritize selfishness, to the point of looking out for her (mentioning the willingness to give her a cut of the profit and also even a ship), even trying to keep her dreams in check by warning her he doesn’t want her to get near the park and by being kind of lenient about her stealing the Gwen droid despite him evidently being a rather dangerous figure if crossed.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 我行让我来 - 酱子贝 | I Can Do It - Jiàng Zǐ Bèi
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jian Rong/Lu Boyuan (I Can Do It), Road/Soft
Characters: Jian Rong (I Can Do It), Lu Boyuan (I Can Do It), Zhuang Yibai
Additional Tags: Jealousy, drinking vinegar, Maybe chugging vinegar, even if Lu Boyuan doesn't show it too much lol, Fluff, featuring very brief cameos from Xiao Bai and Pine and Shiliu!
Summary:
Lu Boyuan and Jian Rong head to Sanya on their own during a short break to try and enjoy some alone time, mostly because it’s difficult to get any privacy back at their base.
Unexpectedly though, they still end up interrupted, and well...
People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:
I Ship My Rival x Me:
One of my personal favourites!
Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.
Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂
This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!
Touch Your World:
A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.
Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:
Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.
The Wife Is First:
Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.
As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.
Don’t Say You Love Me:
A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…
Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.
But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.
The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.
It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:
Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.
Salt Friend:
A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.
How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:
A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.
Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.
See You My King:
Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…
And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.
In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.
Trapping the Foxy Doctor:
A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…
And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).
Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:
You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?
This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.
The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.
There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭
Beryl and Sapphire:
Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.
Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:
Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.
The Guy Inside Me:
I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆
The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.
Falling to Where I Belong:
The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.
But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.
More Than Brothers:
For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.
The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:
Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).
And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.
Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.
And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.
But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:
Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.
Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.
It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.
And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.
I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;
Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.
Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.
I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.
And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.
Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^
Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:
HMGKSJFKSHDHS??? The Untamed? Trending on Tumblr in 2024???? Apparently it’s more likely than you’d think???? 😂
I was actually originally thinking of making a post about how the trending tags were weirdly normie/basic/general/even boring for once, without much fandom content (besides One Piece).
Was uh…definitely not expecting The Untamed of all things to crop up. 😆
I assume it’s one of the slower days for Tumblr in that regard, but it’s still cool to see Wangxian and everyone else from the cdrama get a spotlight so long after the show’s (and all the other adaptations) have finished.
I will say though, Hamas is also now currently trending. I feel like it is important to at least acknowledge that Gaza and Palestine continue to suffer even while I brought up this fandom thing for fun, so while it’s a small thing, I’ll leave a link to a post for more information, resources, and ways to help.
RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Tagged by @crimsonrainseekingflower! 💕💕💕
Thank you for the welcome surprise—another one I finally discovered once I looked at my notifications and stuff! Fortunately this time I’m remembering to make my own post haha. 😆
I hope you don’t mind if I also divide by fandom, and these only vaguely include a couple art wips!:
SVSSS:
Grave Matters
Cinderella III: A Twist in Time AU!?
Just a Dream (is this unfortunately a lame-ass title 😔)
HORRIBLE NEW IDEA: Maybe title: Just Enough. Just Enough for Me
Love Letters (that’s all I got so far *insert deepfried emote here*)
Daycare AU???
Hmmm. Prince x Princess AU?
Xi Yang Yang AU
Gongzhu
Followers Milestone Celebration
Teacup scene
I Think My Uncle Ships Us Help
Unattainable
I’d Like to Try Staying Awake (for You)
Breaking the System (aka Fuck the System? Literally or—jk jk lmfao)
Bonuses include the latest chapters for I’d Rather Spend My Whole Life Asleep (With You) and To Tame a Beast, except the former doesn’t have a wip title. The latter does in the sense that the chapter title is Pixiu!
Erha:
Putting the Musing in Amusement Park
This Venerable One Will Not Be Outdone
What You Left Behind/Do You Also Miss Me?
[The] Romance of Wolf/Husky and Haitang
Ghost Bride (Corpse Bride but Chinese?? And Reincarnation)
Reconciliation
Fifteen Growing Up Flirty
Out of the Closet (and Into Your Arms)?
The Prince and the Pauper (but based on The Princess and the Pauper because I’m a criminal who hasn’t read the original 😂)
Wo Jia Dashixiong Naozi You Keng but with an Erha Twist
TW WARNING FOR THIS ONE but Passive suicide ideation fic
IDK WHAT TO WRITE FOR CWN’S BDAY… GOD SOMEONE SEND HELP GFGKDFHGKSDFHG (this one has a more polished but still wip version titled CWN Birthday Fic: Past, Present, or Future, I Want to Celebrate With You 😆)
Jiaoren CWN
Priest CWN & demon MR…hehehe (now a Dianran AU?)
More Than Just Puppy Love
Flower Shop…Redemption…Thingy?
From Wanton Wants to Wonton Wonders
A Taste of What Could Have Been
Screwdriver
First Bow to Heaven and Earth
Hidden Love AU
Mo Ran pulls a Bing-ge
Mind(-Reading) Games
Stone Lion
Swallowed Flowers
Confessions (Role-Swap AU)
TXJ Week (help we’re way past that now 😔): De-Aged Fic
A Tear in My Heart aka Read You Like an Open Book aka To Leave a Piece/Page of Me in the Nooks and Crannies of You?
Shi Mei Jiaoren Fic: [I’m] Afraid to Live Without Breathing
I also have a lot of Erha and SVSSS fic ideas that are unfortunately just blurbs in my ideas document right now and not full-on wips so they don’t have any titles I can share. 😔
Misc:
First Times, Second Chances, and Third Time’s the Charm…s (?) (Link Click)
Missing a You of Another Time (Link Click)
Danmei, xianxia-esque story (Link Click)
Suriel/Sariel
Call of the Wolves (specifically chapter 78)
Chuju the Chou
Papillon and Akuma’s Story
Papillon and Akuma Role Reversal AU Story
Circinus and Pyxis
Smoke & Mirrors
Dimension Hoppers
Take Me Back to Hell (All Saints Street)
I’ll Love You Until All the Stars Fall from the Sky (The Legend of Luo Xiaohei?)
Fengxi like Shade in Firewing (The Legend of Luo Xiaohei)
Mafia AU Xuanli x Laojun (The Legend of Luo Xiaohei)
Continuation of Falling for You (White Cat Legend)
How Could I Ever Ask You to Love Me? (White Cat Legend)
My Shadow It Follows Me
The Us of the Present Could Perhaps Be Just as Tender as the Us of the Past (Scissor Seven)
A Conversation With a Dead Man (MDZS)
Magical Girl AU (MDZS)
Xue Yang’s Regrets (MDZS)
Ao Bing and Nezha in a shoujo high school AU… That’s it. That’s the whole idea (Nezha 2019)
Surprising the Un-Surprise-Able (I Have to be a Great Villain)
Xianxia AU (Kiss the Abyss)
Breathing New Life (Kiss the Abyss)
I Will Chase You to the Ends of Time and Space (Kiss the Abyss)
A Family Outing (Beryl and Sapphire)
Just Some Gay Little Dudes (Beryl and Sapphire)
Steven Universe AU (Beryl and Sapphire)
Something as Sweet as You (I Ship My Adversary x Me)
A Present to be Cherished (I Ship My Adversary x Me)
I Ship My Adversary x Me and 严禁造谣 Crossover? AU Swap?
Additional misc wips I haven’t touched in forever are the latest chapters for The World Doesn’t Deserve You (MDZS) and Frostbite (All Saints Street). 😅
And as a bonus, these aren’t at all “official” yet but the more I read for some manhua the more I’m tempted to write fics for them… For example, a fic for Blemishing the Contaminated or My Lovely Troublemaker season 2 would be so cute, even if I don’t exactly have any clear or obvious ideas for them. 🥺
Phew, wow. I had way more wips than I expected AKFJSKFHSJS. Some are honestly just super half-baked documents tucked away in a folder with only a title and outline, but I hope something here was of interest to you guys. 😆💖
As for tagging…
I also don’t think I’m capable of tagging as many people as I have wips otl. So I hope you guys don’t mind if I tag just a few of you!
Also definitely excited to have reached the xianxia world at long last!! My favourite remains the zombie apocalypse one just because I enjoyed their dynamics there plus the tragic ending and the more tsun/aojiao form of Qin Xian…
Although of course X and the first Qin Xian are all great in their own ways. I’m reaaaaally curious how this one will go since memories are going to be sealed for a while. 👀
X was already such a departure from the previous “set” personalities of Qin Xian it does make me curious what shizun Qin Xian will be like!! I’m ready for the shizunfucker SVSSS/Erha parallels!
Also sorry but yeah I’m basic; just them with long hair and robes,,, is pretty,,,,
