Jun 27
SO COMFY
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Australia
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from Türkiye
seen from Maldives
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from Maldives
seen from Philippines
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Russia
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
SO COMFY
GUYS IM SCREAMIBG??? HELLO???
Thank you guys sm sm much, like i’m honestly tweaking out, last year i would’ve been happy to get to 300 followers and im here with a whole 1000???
I love u guys sm and i couldnt have done it without you all 😭<3333
I have a new story planned just for this!! It’ll be puppy hybrid again since i know a lot of you came from that and likely miss it too 😅😅😅
Other wips im working on is a civilian reader and ghost again, but with angst, comfort and a whole ride of emotions i just know u guys will love!! 💓
ILLUSTRATING MORTAL SHEN YUAN & SACRED RULER LUO BINGHE IN ‘THE UNTOLD TALE’ SNEAK PEEK 2
In reference to this post (so I guess it shall be an illustrated bingyuan/ binggeyuan CP art now, haha). This is the final zoomed-in screenshot I can give. The full completed illustration with all the small details and bg will be posted either when the chapter it belongs to eventually comes out (where we unveil mortal!Shen Yuan for the first time in the post-SVSSS canon PIDW world) or earlier depending on how I feel. (My goal is to make it fit the 6x9 standard US Trade dimensions so those who want to own a p4p self-print hard copy of the story when completed will have an option to include few art illustrations for visual accompaniment.)
✨Don’t our protags look like the obvious CP of a danmei story?✨ Bingge, you’re very lucky I managed to squeeze you in with your future hubby.
Like I said, as long as you know the loopholes.
sorry for the delay with the asks and the translation posts- it's been a BUSY several weeks and keeping up with the PSI Scans scanlating was about all I could handle x^x
I got a lot of asks about the latest Teruhashi chapter (242) so I'm bumping that one up to be next on the to-do list!
Character Design Thoughts for Shen Yuan & Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky in ‘The Untold Tale’
(This is a Follow Up to This Post)
Hello, @averydrearydiana! Loved reading through your tags! I’m excited that you’re excited! Since I’m also seeing comments on AO3 speculating about how our transmigrators are going to appear as in The Untold Tale, I might as well give my current thoughts and have this archived on tumblr for future reference.
A fun fact about TUT is that a lot of the imagery in the story is inspired by Chinese PVs and popular C-dramas and literature. Since TUT is conceived as a lovestory to SVSSS, one element that I’d wanted to incorporate is playful attempts at satirical genre deconstruction. With that comes with me playfully poking fun at some clichés or things I’ve noticed in Chinese works.
Shen Yuan’s Celestial Design
Before I talk about his mortal appearance, I have to give a lil context about his celestial design in the story. We already know what he looks like as the celestial fortuneteller in TUT’s cover art that I’ve already posted on tumblr. As everyone knows, I was heavily inspired by this Chinese PV:
(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)
Among the things I’ve noticed are the fictional characters with white hair. We have a whole subculture of fans liking male character designs with white hair in anime and animation. Taking that a step further, they’ve even shown up in C-dramas, i.e. Teng She from Love and Redemption (technically more blond than platinum white, but shhhhh, just let me have this), Dong Hua Dijun from Eternal Love of Dream aka Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (rest assured, I’m aware of the source material’s controversy, but let’s not get into that here), etc. One of the tags for TUT is Opposites Attract. Luo Binghe’s color coordination is aligned with black and red mostly. Now, visually speaking, what’s the opposite of that?
The yin yang symbol.
Fun fact, besides black vs white, green (SY) is the complementary color of red (LBG) on the color wheel. Now taking everything I’ve said, to take it even one step further, my thought process at the time was, “why not go the extra mile then and just have SY be albino? Within context of the Heavenly Realm, that character design makes sense.” TUT is me subtly riffing off what I can (for the good ol’ meta humor), but making the content come across as a legitimate story experience. As Protagonist A and Protagonist B, LBG and SY have to look visually striking together. With all that said, let’s talk about....
(In reference to the original tumblr post)
Shen Yuan (Mortal)
I’ll keep some elements of his albinism from his celestial form (light sensitivity and pale skin mostly), but SY’s mortal form is essentially SY pre-transmigration but within context of the xianxia genre.
For his appearance, let’s just keep this Author’s Note^ and TUT’s summary in the back of our brains. This is the fanvid I was originally inspired by for SY’s mortal appearance:
(TUT Summary - Excerpt)
For what he wears, I’m currently feeling very heavily inspired by this PV:
His mortal appearance wouldn’t be considered as “strange” or “otherworldly” compared to the “ethereal fairy-like beauty” SY retains in the Heavenly Realm, but as a side-effect of the 【PROTAGONIST’S HALO】 and his +20 CHARISMA stat, he would still be considered attractive to people even when he takes on a mortal appearance. (Mainly, I like the idea of Bing gē taking large shots of vinegar seeing SY turning heads no matter which appearance SY takes on, and Luo Binghe glaring at these “insects” for even “daring to lay their unworthy eyes on his fated person.” The thought of it just makes me laugh.)
What I mean by how SY’s mortal form being very much based on how SY appeared pre-transmigration but in the xianxia genre context, I mean he’ll have his dark hair (but longer), a “scholarly air” (as a nod to his novelist background), dark eyes, and even his glasses technically (the divine monocle mentioned in ch3, which is also a subtle nod to Sha Po Lang and a riff on men wearing monocles in other Chinese works andit’salsoforeshadowingbutshhhh).
(TUT ch3 - Excerpt)
Shen Yuan originally was an author in his forties pre-transmigration, so I like the idea him having a mature air about him in the Cultivation World as well. So for both our Protagonist B’s celestial and mortal appearances, the idea is that you can look at him and immediately recognize him as a protagonist of the danmei setting. My only two prerequisites are that his appearance screams “hello, I’m Protagonist B” and that he appears in “scholarly” attire.
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Mortal)
Keeping in mind the original tumblr post where I wrote my thoughts on who I’m transmigrating him as, currently I’m thinking it’s a combination of these two PVs for his mortal form:
As a nod to him being a successful novelist, I wanted him to also appear scholarly. A scholarly crown prince, if you will. For his attire, imagine all the C-drama clothing you’ve seen actors wear in period dramas, and you already have a good idea already of the direction I’m heading down.
As the prince of the cannon fodder emperor, I very much like the idea of Airplane perhaps having a baby face and brown hair (as a small nod to fanon!SQH from SVSSS) but with a great body (a huge source of inspiration are clothing worn by Prince Yu and Prince Jing of the three princes from the C-drama Nirvana in Fire). Since Airplane will also be able to select his Character Creation stats like Shen Yuan had, one thing I’m fairly certain is that he will max out his CONSTITUTION—because “game logic” and not wanting to die. (For those who don’t know, the CON stat in tabletop RPs essentially indicates a person’s overall health, wellbeing, and vigor checks...so him maxing it out is equivalent to him being as invulnerable as a cockroach. A high CON means overall healthiness, which means your character probably is full of energy and vitality, can heal rapidly, and will rarely get sick—if ever. Low CON usually means a higher susceptibility to sickness and disease, wounds that fester and linger, and a general fatigue would haunt you, etc.) Like how SY zeroed in on his CHA, Airplane would have prioritized +20 CON (+5 modifier), especially knowing the fate that’d await him as a prince and the vicious environment that is expected for palace intrigue plots (the harem is a big factor, with concubines and consorts and even the empress sabotaging each other—just to win the favor of one man). Against poison or whatnot which is a cliché in palace intrigue plots, rather than relying on luck, you typically stand a better chance of passing the CON check if you have a high modifier aiding your checks. He’s basically become impervious to illnesses, most poisons (probably being able to spring back quickly), and is considered the healthiest prince in all the mortal imperial line. <- This could be taken both seriously and humorously simultaneously.
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Deity/ Celestial)
For Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī’s “actual divine body” that is currently asleep and won’t be awakened until Airplane completes his mortal trial to “regain his cultivation powers,” the face should obviously be similar but, as Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī, he would appear regal and dignified as a god of this world:
Imagine something along the lines of mortal Airplane as the man on the right, celestial Shen Yuan in the center, and deity/ celestial Airplane as the man on the left. I envision a respectable appearance that would knock the air out of Mobei jūn and make him recognize Airplane despite any visual dissimilarities, and in a way we have the Four Beauties of China: Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan, Mobei jūn, and Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī.
I will say I currently have an idea of making Airplane have “golden” eyes in both his celestial and mortal forms. (Spoiler alert: in my notes, I’d written down to give Airplane yellow eyes as an Easter egg to Yanxi Palace, I believe, where there was an episode where someone of the imperial harem schemed against the empress and almost had the newborn baby killed because that and the yellow skin was an inauspicious omen. We later find out through a timely intervention that the true reason was due to jaundice—because of the diet/ pregnancy cravings she ate for a period of time which resulted in her son’s symptoms. With Airplane’s high CON and another trope I’m bringing in which’ll have to do with the Medicine King’s Valley/ Valley of the Medicine King, his yellow eyes are the only side effect that lingered from that traumatic event which would have killed him had they gotten away with their scheme. A lot of palace dramas have to do with the vicious harem plots, so this would potentially be one such example.) The reason being that this is the identifying marker for MBJ to clue in that they’re the same man he will have loved. And I think that has romantic potential.
Misc.
Now addressing the other tags, yes, essentially speaking, Mobei jūn might just very well experience his very own Big Damn Reunion trope that Bing mèi had suffered from SVSSS. Poor MBJ. He’s in a tumultuous ride of his own with him considering Airplane as his own fated person, hahaha. But for the Moshang dynamic, I want him—a demon—to find himself taken with Airplane in his mortal guise—and subsequently his true celestial appearance once he finds out. I very much also want SY to jokingly snark to his fellow transmigrator-and-writing-colleague about him getting in a relationship with his own “creation” (MBJ). And Airplane would jokingly snark back about SY “ruining his ‘first son’ as well” (LBG). If you can read between the lines of that, then kudos. I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to the palace intrigue.
I’m especially very happy to hear you’re looking forward to the descriptions! I personally love worldbuilding in the stories I consume I’m an interior designer and realtor irl, so I’m glad my love of house details and landscape, etc shows in TUT. For the pseudohistorical vibe, in the Mortal Realm, I will be referencing the Forbidden City of our Chinese history and a couple popular period C-dramas. Take the settings of period C-dramas like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, Yanxi Palace, and Nirvana in Fire as examples for what will be awaiting us when we finally meet Airplane in his mortal body. In the Heavenly Realm, the descriptions will be heavily referencing shows that contain aesthetics such as those of Ashes of Love, Love and Redemption, and Eternal Dream.
Take this with a grain of salt just in case I change my mind later on, but in the chapter when we meet Airplane for the first time, I probably won’t say which character he is in the first scene. I’ll give plenty of hints in the first scene so that you all can make your guesses before the big reveal, but I’m fairly confident you all or most of you will be able to pinpoint who he is among the cannon fodders. We’ll meet the emperor, who is discussing with his sons about the matter regarding the approaching calamity that is Luo Binghe. Then when we transition into the second scene, we’ll know exactly which “royal prince OC” it is that our beloved Airplane has transmigrated into, hahaha.
(*Keep in mind, for everything written above, some details are subject to change. Nothing is official until it appears in the story, or I’ve actually drawn my ideas out and posted online to both my tumblr and twitter. These are just my current thoughts.)
A goal of mine for TUT is to make the story widely accessible, meaning it doesn’t matter if the reader is new to the SVSSS fandom or aren’t familiar with the Easter egg references or meta jokes or subtext or even the Chinese culture, or even if English is not their first language. Having knowledge beforehand might help someone notice more hidden details in TUT, yes, but it is a humble wish of this writer for her esteemed readers to be able to dive into the story and get the enjoyable feeling like they’re reading a genuine danmei novel. It really makes me smile whenever I hear feedback that I am able to emulate that experience.
Very exciting developments indeed are in store!
The Untold Tale is now on TVTROPES!°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
Link to TUT’s TV Tropes page
Link to the story on AO3
Say it together with me, AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Actually I’m not sure when this even became a thing but I feel immensely honored?!?! I can’t believe I just found out about it now! Wow, this is so cool! There were so many details to read through and I’m still grinning brightly by the end of it. I’m overjoyed that TUT has its own TV Tropes page. This writer sees it as a huge badge of honor!
I’m still in such a state of disbelief. Esteemed Readers, I was reading through all the TV Trope details written based on the four chapters published so far on AO3 and my face ached from how widely I kept grinning throughout. This. This definitely took a lot of time and thought to write all these in an organized matter. Wow. Immense props and respect to whoever contributed to this page!
Please do check it out! (And if any of you wish to contribute to the TV Tropes page, feel free!) Oh my goodness!! You lot have such bright and brilliant minds! I’m incredibly grateful. And so proud to be part of the SVSSS community! You guys are so amazing. 😭✨💞💖
Link to TUT, and link to the TV Tropes page are above.^
Current Progress on ‘the Untold Tale’ Book Cover Mockups
(In reference to this post, and this post)
Since I have been seeing interest expressed for a hard copy version of the currently ongoing The Untold Tale on AO3 (I feel so honored, you guys!!!), I’ve begun the preparations ahead of time so that I can share the option with everyone that’s still interested. 😌 The final minimalist design that will be ready for self-print will pretty much be what you see currently (it’ll only require me to make a minor tweak to the total width to account for TUT’s final wordcount when the story is marked as complete), which only leaves the C-novel style cover to work on + the additional standalone illustrations of mortal!Shen Yuan, mortal!Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, and deity!ASTTS. (Since the cover art is bingyuan centric, I might consider a moshang illustration—but we’ll see! No promises yet.)
Minimalist Cover Option (paperback/hardback)
*Bolded = what I recommend (but you can choose what you like)
DIY Self-Printed at Home (not final proof; I was just curious to see what it’d look like in real scale)
What I like about this cover is how innocuous and minimalistic it looks, especially with the monochromatic B&W aesthetic and the brushstrokes. But there are lowkey references to the fanfic itself in its design. I was really inspired by book designs that show what the story is about upon first glance and subtly reference the story. Can you see the buffering wheel (also somewhat of an abstract reference to the yin yang symbol), the phoenix-and-dragon symbolism, and the abstract scenery the brushstrokes show? Plus, lowkey, you could have it lying out innocuously and no one will suspect a thing, haha.
Working on the C-Novel Style Cover
WIP of the C-Novel Style Cover (paperback/ hardback)
The cover art I did for TUT originally wasn’t sized for the standard 6x9 book cover format, so I’ll fill it in with more of the lily garden background and night scene with the fireflies. I lowkey want to emulate the Chinese light novel aesthetic for this book design.
I have gotten a question about whether there’ll be an option to print the minimalist design on a hardcover and have the C-Novel Style cover printed on a dust jacket/ book jacket. And I thought...why not? That’s a brill idea! So unless I hear otherwise, I’ll include a dust jacket option to the Google Drive file that I’ll link to on the bottom of my endnotes on AO3.
Right now I have a tasklist of everything I’ll need to prepare for you guys. I’ll check off the list one-by-one over time. When TUT is finished, you’ll see the final PDF options that you can select to use to customize your own hard copy of TUT. :) Right now the files will be in jpegs just to give an idea of what it’ll look like. Only PDF files should be used for final print.
Don’t be surprised when you eventually see a link to Google Drive in my AO3 endnote down at the very bottom of the story. The files inside won’t be the final production files yet (you’ll know they’re ready when you see them in PDF instead of jpeg, etc). I’m so excited to see the proofs when TUT finally wraps up and I can actually hold my fanfic in my hands. It’s so cool!
A Big Thank You to All
Lowkey, I have not done anything remotely related to graphic design and/or branding in...approximately 4 years! So while I’m rusty, I’m pleased by how the illustrated book covers are turning out for TUT! (Ah, this really brings back memories of printing so many proofs of minor differences just to choose the one that I think looks good compositionally. I’m glad you guys like what I’ve come out with!) It is this writer’s sincere hope for everyone who wishes to own a copy for themselves to find the end result satisfactory!
(Update in Part II)