No.5301
>>5289>the relatively short, almost conversational style of writing?That may be contributing. I haven't read any modern or "light" books in ~5 years, so it might be difficult for me to acclimate to the style.
>if the SVSSS premise doesn't strike a chord with you Sorry if my post wasn't clear! I was trying to explain why I'd never read a danmei novel before now. The premise of SVSSS DOES appeal to me, which is why I'm desperate to get past the writing style. It's not just the premise, but the tone and specific elements related to the characters. I’ll try to finish the first book, even if the prose bothers me.
>>5291>>5297I'll try to hunt it down and give it a shot!
>>5292I'm not far into the book, but I'll do my best. If it seems like I'm nitpicking, I'm not. I genuinely want to like this.
>To wit, Luo Binghe's current pitifulness directly correlated to the future ferocity of his wanton laughter as he ground his foot into your head.This sentence is the best example.
>Why were priceless herbs, spirit elixirs, and peerless beauties everywhere, like they didn't cost a cent? Why were the villains' speeches and poses as they dug their graves and got offed all exactly the same? The dozens of maidens barely glimpsed, all of whom agreed to enter the harem, what happened to them…? All right, skipping that last one for the moment- who had been the culprit behind the scores of atrocities? Exactly what was the purpose of the characters so hyped up for being awesome and without equal? Why did none of them make an appearance, even at the very end?!>Xiu Ya had been with Shen Qingqiu since he was young and newly known, and it could have been considered prestigious unto itself. The flash of its blade was snow white, luminous but not blinding, definitely a top-class armament.>How could someone who’d cursed “dumbfuck author, dumbfuck novel” remember ancient content from the beginning of a serialized novel that had been running for four years and covered an in-narrative span of two hundred years? He’d spent twenty days binging the novel from start to finish, so he had clean forgotten that whump-filled arc of pointless abuse that covered Luo Binghe’s beginning at the sect, okay?!I don’t hate wordiness in general, but the book over-explains things. In the last sentence, we do not need to be told the whump-filled arc was filled with abuse; we could gather that because the narrator called it a whump-filled arc. Like, as opposed to the whump-filled arc that was NOT filled with abuse?? It's like saying "the darkness that was black" or "my mother who is related to me." It's the literary equivalent of “the poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison?” I’m not just attacking this one sentence. This has happened multiple times.
Sorry if I didn’t explain this well; I’m not good at assessing the use of language in books. I could try to elaborate, but this post is long enough kek.
No.5305
>>5301I guess I just assumed Shen Yuan was being a petty bitch, because I never really noticed this before. Reading it isolated, it does sound strange.
No.5330
>>4960I'm reading it right now and I put it on my tablet with a big ass font while I walk on the treadmill at the gym.
No.5762
Has anyone here been keeping up with the new SVSSS extras? There's no translation for them yet, but Twitter is full of leaks and the content is all over the place.
The ideas all sound very fun in a fanfiction way, like Shen Yuan returning to the real world and introducing Binghe to his family— but it doesn't really feel like it fits for me, and I'm extremely wary of the retcons as well. So Binghe apparently knew all along that Shen Yuan was a transmigrator? What? I really hope that that leak was a mistranslation, because while reading the book, you can tell that the confusion of SQQ's hot and cold treatment of him really messed with his psychology in such a delicious way.
Wasn't his sudden foray into masochism a response to SQQ's harsh treatment of him, which after he endured turned to love? What about his attachment issues? The fact that he doesn't understand any of it is a major contributor to why he goes so far off the rails later on, and to hardwave it away and say he knew all along just cheapens his character and depth.
SVSSS has always been my all time favourite and of course I'm thrilled to have any new content at all, but given what's being said about it, I'm just so wary.
No.5764
>>5762>>5763I saw someone post link to TL of new extras on twitter but didn't save it, shouldn't be that hard to find.
No.5766
>>5765I'm still not a fan of having Luo Binghe know all along, but after reading all that… I kind of enjoyed it, lol. I take back most of my initial concerns.
A few scenes got a kek out of me, like Mobei Jun scaring the hell out of SQH by climbing out his computer monitor like the girl from the ring, but seeing Shen Yuan act like a redditor really made the extras for me.
> You can waste time gathering your little downvote brigade, or you can face me yourself. Can't even be a proper keyboard warrior? Then at least mop up after them.Peak SVSSS silliness.
No.5783
>>5782Isn't this common in translated media? Every culture has their own terms for kinship. Most translators keep them in to retain the flavour and cultural elements, and also to prevent awkward direct translations down the road.
No.5786
>>5782I don't mind this. I prefer it to localizations where I'm supposed to know about american culture.
No.5787
>>5783>Isn't this common in translated media?Which media lol.
>Most translators keep them in to retain the flavour and cultural elements, and also to prevent awkward direct translations down the road.Except these terms have perfect equivalents in English (jiejie = sister, gonggong = eunuch, shaoye = young master). 'The first wife' should be just 'Madam', since it's not a face-slapping palace drama and there are no second, third wives in that household (if the translator had bothered to read the whole story before starting work).
>>5786I can't treat seriously anybody who claims that pic-related is the preferable way to translate. They are most likely trolls.
No.5788
>>5787Yeah if there’s an obvious translated equivalent to a word, I’d rather they use that instead of some pinyin word I struggle to pronounce. The only time I don’t mind untranslated stuff is like Japanese honorifics. Although I kinda wish they localized some of the Chinese names in some of these novels. Like made them easier to read phonetically though, not giving them a whole new name.
No.5790
>>5787I know your pic is a joke but young people in my country unironically speak like that, every second word they say is in English. I used to do translation work myself and I genuinely prefer it this way, sorry.
No.5791
>>5787>Which mediaPrinted media like comics and literature, live action media like movies, serial tv? In East Asian media terms like senpai, ahjussi, ahjumma, gege, jiejie etc are commonly adopted in place of direct translations. In European lit, untranslated words (even if they have English substitutes) are common as well eg people have debated over Albert Camus' maman for decades. Translators are wary of flattening cultural contexts by defaulting to the closest equivalent in English language. There's a whole world of difference between borrowing native words/foreignisation, which are proper translation strategies, and weeb shit like doki fansubs.
Tbh the translator for the excerpt you posted is quite inconsistent (translating first wife but keeping shaoye as it is) so I don't really want to sound like I'm caping for them. But imo for gonggong, keeping it untranslated might be better since the more 'official' term for eunuch is taijian. Translating gonggong to 'eunuch' in this context is like referring to someone constantly with their full job title, which is awkward.
No.5792
>>5787>>5782keeping honorifics untranslated is just better. it’s what most people prefer anyways
No.5793
>>5790>young people in my country unironically speak like that, every second word they say is in EnglishWhen I have heard people do this in certain languages it personally drives me up the wall but that's just my perspective as a native English speaker. I don't get the logic behind which parts are randomly chosen and why. I guess it does just make me think of the weeb-speak but in reverse so I have that instinctual cringe reaction.
(My most hated anime character trope is foreign characters who use 'me' and 'you' as first/second person pronouns in Japanese, it's the most grating thing in the world, but I would find it equally grating if it was languages other than English)
No.5796
>>5787>>5788Agreed. When they translate from english to chinese or japanese, they don't call everyone Mr. or Mrs., they use the language's native honorifics because that's what makes sense to the readers.
I suppose I don't feel as strongly about japanese honorifics because I'm used to them, though. 'Young Master Ciel' is fine, but 'Mr. Kakashi' gives me hives.
>Like made them easier to read phonetically though, not giving them a whole new name.Chinese names are easier to read for native English speakers if they're romanized using wade-giles, but pinyin is the standard now (Wei Wuxian becomes Wei WuHsien, as an example, which looks insane if you're used to Xian, but its more obvious to an english speaker that X is 's', rather than 'X' like 'x-ray' (yes, I have heard fans that have only ever read the name pronounce it like 'Wu-ex-ian')).
No.5884
I was sad that MXTX didn't/couldn't write sex scenes in TGCF but after reading SVSSS I'm very glad she didn't. Why is she so obsessed with describing buttholes in as many ways as possible. I already knew people didn't like her sex scenes but I never expected it to be so hilariously bad.
No.5893
>>5884I always figure that quality can get lost in translation, especially with Danmei where companies will rush out as many English volumes as they can using amateur translators and minimal (if any) editing. We've been given a bad hand for sure, and it always makes me want to be a bit lenient on the authors since I know I'm not reading it as it's originally intended.
But when it comes to MXTXs sex scenes… theyre just so, so bad. And it's not as if she doesn't have some great ideas. That incense burner scene where Wei Wuxian is watching Lan Wangji's dirty dream of attacking his younger self? Shouting at him not to show any mercy? So damn hot. Too bad the actual execution is so… blah.
Does anyone know how the CN fandom feels about her smut? I know that access to it there is very hush hush, but it does exist and has been read.
No.5895
>>5893I haven't read MDZS but yeah, in SVSSS the scenes definitely had potential, but she just fucks it up by focusing on things nobody wants her to focus on. Like why is she telling me Shen Qingqiu almost throws up while Luo Binghe is fucking him? If she wants to emphasize how big his dick is, there are better ways.
No.5908
>>5896See, this was another scene that had great potential. It starts with LBH and SQQ reading rpf porn written about themselves, Binghe comparing it to their irl lives, and then taking inspiration. It's a great idea, but then out of everything she could have done with the scene… she chose the wine.
We should all be glad we were spared TGCF smut. How could any of us continue to think Hua Cheng is sexy when reading about how Xie Lian loudly squelches when he fists him. No thanks. I'll stick to fanfiction.
No.5924
>>5908Honestly it's not the first time I've had enemas in my bl so you know, I could've digged it. But she wrote the scene in such an unsexy way, it killed any potential it could've had.
Ngl I often think about how TGCF probably wouldn't be what it was if not for the censorship. There's always a silver lining I guess. She has gay moid tier tastes when it comes to sex scenes, it's awful.
No.6122
Are there any good danmei that aren't in the xianxia genre? I've read MXTX's works and like the style but the cultivation fantasy stuff is kind of confusing and boring to me.
No.6123
>>6122Saye, little mushroom, mo du, can ci pin.
That's just the few I know. I think novelupdates is a good place to look for new danmei novels, reviews and ratings are quite useful.
No.6277
>>6276Another reason to just suck it up and learn mandarin at this point…
No.6278
>>6276I've been seeing danmei fandom losing it over this but since it's a Japanese company and their documents seem to be talking about localizing manga, isn't it more likely they're planning to use AI on manga the parent company already owns? 7S insists they won't use it for translation, but we know Japanese publishers have been experimenting with AI typesetting (which has in 100% of cases needed replacing with human edits) and AI sound effect replacements. The "six month process" they mentioned in their outlines is largely proofing and typeset, and should already be faster with Japanese staff on call to check things.
Media Do's big concern is that somehow the US isn't shifting manga on digital platforms fast enough for their liking. They might actually be incensed by danmei selling better and let danmei take its sweet time with the human process.
No.6279
>>6276>>6278Last I heard, their AI LLM was only mean to be used on regular japanese books and not manga, and also not danmei since the LLM is only for japanese.
>>6277I started learning the second I finished my first danmei. I've already been through this rodeo with japanese. I fucking hate dealing with localization companies and fan translators. I can't fucking wait to git gud so I can ignore all of them like I do for manga.
No.6632
I finally started reading Heaven's Official Blessing after letting my physical first volume rot on a shelf for nearly a year. So far it's just the introduction, I can't keep up with the characters' names yet but I should get used to them eventually. The setting reminded me of a less serious version of the 12 Kingdoms because they're based on the same mythologies/legends, so I'm already enjoying it so far.
No.6834
>>6812maybe Demon Venerable Also Wants to Know and other cyan wings novels.
i find the romance in her novels to be sidelined by whatever the gong MC is going through. character development might be a bit sparse though.
there's a title that might fit what you’re looking for (竹涧饮茶客 - 穿书后被反派师尊表白了). the gong MC transmigrates into a novel and seduces the antagonist shizun. initially, there are no feelings involved, and MC just keeps the shizun around for physical convenience and uses him as a cultivation stat stick. at some point, shizun realises MC is just using him, but he's too dickmatised to kill MC. MC eventually gets his act together, and there's a decent character arc there. cw
the shizun is intersex (shuangxing)this one stood out for me because scummy PUA gongs are rare on the usual platforms for content moderation reasons.
No.6912
>>6910I make an exception for monks since they're voluntarily bald, it's not bad with that knowledge.
No.6914
>>6910I'm not sure what's worse to me, full bald or Qing dynasty half-shaved. But I saw an interesting modern guy/Qing guy danmei so I might have to put myself through it…