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Slightly related, perhaps: “They’re more attractive than real boyfriends.” Inside the weird world of Chinese romance video games
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Feb 15, 2019 18:22
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Qidian is a piece of poo poo company, but they do have a lot of female-focused works. There's a definite market there.
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Feb 15, 2019 19:30
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yeah, i've tried reading a few but i bounced off them pretty hard.
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Feb 15, 2019 19:34
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all the ones i have tried to read suffer from the one two punch of being outrageously and aggressively het and the male lead being a loving abuser
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Feb 15, 2019 19:57
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"honey, please, you can just spend your time and energy on other women around you who actually care about you and not a monster in human guise who happens to have a dick and white skin" -me, 100 chapters in to every qidian fic aimed at women
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Feb 15, 2019 19:59
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hey, just calling them an abuser is overly simplistic. the male love interest in chinese romance webnovels have to be incredibly rich possessive, controlling, abusive monsters.
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Feb 15, 2019 20:06
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atelier morgan posted:all the ones i have tried to read suffer from the one two punch of being outrageously and aggressively het and the male lead being a loving abuser Still early days, but The Empress' Livestream doesn't seem to be suffering from that. The MC is some sort of military commander from the future, who gets sucked into a Xianxia world by a sapient livestreaming app and reincarnated as the standard girl-disguised-as-a-boy. The app is trying to make her rise to power by scheming and court intrigue, but she prefers to solve all her problems with violence. Basically it wants her to do Dream of the Red Chamber, so far she's well on her way to doing the Water Margin instead. Anyway, MC is definitely not heterosexual. As she's written so far, it seems unlikely that they're setting her up with an abusive male lead. It might still be crap, though -- I suspect the author might be setting her up with a (female) harem.
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Feb 15, 2019 20:07
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i didn't get very far into lady cultivator, though it wasn't bad. the premise of that one is simply that it is about a lady cultivator, but since it is in a cultivation world there are tons of immensely powerful psychotic serial rapists running around. so, she has to work on getting strong enough to live on her own terms while never letting anyone learn that she was born with a condition that makes sex with her a single-use permanent power-up. the magic virginity thing is a pretty common concept in skeevy cultivation webnovels, but it's always from the perspective of the rapey murder hobo mc. i'm sure you can guess how they handle such events. it's not very romantic because romance is the losing state.
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Feb 15, 2019 20:20
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I liked the male lead from what I read of My Disciple Died Yet Again (I haven't finished it or gotten to the later parts people complain about) because he's just extremely aloof and awkward and the protagonist is very proactive about hooking up with him.
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Feb 15, 2019 22:00
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gimme the GOD drat candy posted:i didn't get very far into lady cultivator, though it wasn't bad. the premise of that one is simply that it is about a lady cultivator, but since it is in a cultivation world there are tons of immensely powerful psychotic serial rapists running around. so, she has to work on getting strong enough to live on her own terms while never letting anyone learn that she was born with a condition that makes sex with her a single-use permanent power-up. the magic virginity thing is a pretty common concept in skeevy cultivation webnovels, but it's always from the perspective of the rapey murder hobo mc. i'm sure you can guess how they handle such events. I can see that being a turnoff, yeah. That specific worry's been coming up less in the more recent chapters, though, mostly it's her kicking rear end and encountering fated chances. There's an obvious male love interest but he seems like an okay guy other than his secrecy about his own true identity. Also, he's pure yang, which apparently has mutual benefits for her. For anyone who wants less hetero stuff, I've been reading some lesbian stuff. Here're a few. https://www.novelupdates.com/series/considering-the-possibility-of-falling-in-love-with-the-villain/ https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-favor-the-villainess/ https://www.novelupdates.com/series/mistress-i-was-wrong/ https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-villainess-blooms/
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Feb 15, 2019 22:52
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Tobermory posted:Still early days, but The Empress' Livestream doesn't seem to be suffering from that. The MC is some sort of military commander from the future, who gets sucked into a Xianxia world by a sapient livestreaming app and reincarnated as the standard girl-disguised-as-a-boy. The app is trying to make her rise to power by scheming and court intrigue, but she prefers to solve all her problems with violence. Basically it wants her to do Dream of the Red Chamber, so far she's well on her way to doing the Water Margin instead. I have read a bit of this and thanks for the rec, and am enjoying it so far. A female protag outright saying 'gently caress you i'm gay' to a narrator spirit demanding she fit with the genre stereotypes is enough to put a smile on my face
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Feb 16, 2019 08:23
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atelier morgan posted:I have read a bit of this and thanks for the rec, and am enjoying it so far. A female protag outright saying 'gently caress you i'm gay' to a narrator spirit demanding she fit with the genre stereotypes is enough to put a smile on my face She's straight though, she mentions it later.
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Feb 16, 2019 13:27
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Piell posted:She's straight though, she mentions it later. whaaaaaaaaat  what is with straight people why can't they just let me have a lebsiab
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Feb 16, 2019 14:17
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Piell posted:She's straight though, she mentions it later. How the hell is she straight? she spent the first 40 chapters saying she was gay.
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Feb 16, 2019 21:33
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Arkeus posted:How the hell is she straight? she spent the first 40 chapters saying she was gay. Chapter 48. quote:Host V: "Eh, even if I want to do that, it would be with the officers' wives. I love girls."
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Feb 16, 2019 23:57
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that's some serious bullshit
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Feb 17, 2019 00:09
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Piell posted:Chapter 48. A powerful joke, affecting not only her peers and herself but even the readers Truly nobody has the last laugh
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Feb 17, 2019 01:00
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Yeah, seems like the writer got scared or something, given that earlier on she thinks the exact opposite quite a few times.
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Feb 17, 2019 01:37
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Finished the Grimgar anime. That's some good poo poo. A unique swords and sorcery story. By the end of the show wraps up with killing Death Spots the Kobold the party is almost up to the same level as most parties start out at though. Does it become more typical as the story goes on? I don't know how it could keep the same level of grimness going forward.
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Feb 17, 2019 02:24
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Tobermory posted:Still early days, but The Empress' Livestream doesn't seem to be suffering from that. The MC is some sort of military commander from the future, who gets sucked into a Xianxia world by a sapient livestreaming app and reincarnated as the standard girl-disguised-as-a-boy. The app is trying to make her rise to power by scheming and court intrigue, but she prefers to solve all her problems with violence. Basically it wants her to do Dream of the Red Chamber, so far she's well on her way to doing the Water Margin instead.
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Feb 17, 2019 03:11
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LLSix posted:Finished the Grimgar anime. That's some good poo poo. A unique swords and sorcery story. By the end of the show wraps up with killing Death Spots the Kobold the party is almost up to the same level as most parties start out at though. Does it become more typical as the story goes on? I don't know how it could keep the same level of grimness going forward. Simple - bring them into the actual front lines rather than have them muck around clearing up enemy stragglers and deserters.
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Feb 17, 2019 03:19
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Finished Unsouled and reading the second Cradle book now. I really like them! Yerin is pretty cool, and I'm curious to see how the protagonist develops. I'm pretty sure this Jai Long guy is important, since I remember seeing other people mentioning that name when discussing this series. I have no clue where this stuff with the Abidan is supposed to be going, since it seems like it's going to be completely disconnected from Lindon's story until like 30 books into the future. It does a great job of scratching the same itch as Forge of Destiny. One really minor issue - what is Lindon supposed to look like? I don't know if the series has ever described his appearance, aside from him having black hair. I have a pretty clear mental image of most of the other characters, but I draw a blank for him. LLSix posted:Finished the Grimgar anime. That's some good poo poo. A unique swords and sorcery story. By the end of the show wraps up with killing Death Spots the Kobold the party is almost up to the same level as most parties start out at though. Does it become more typical as the story goes on? I don't know how it could keep the same level of grimness going forward. At the point I'm at (a couple arcs after the anime), it hasn't yet become more typical (in the sense of the protagonist or others gaining special abilities or otherwise becoming the main heroes). They do become better/stronger, though. Darth Walrus posted:Simple - bring them into the actual front lines rather than have them muck around clearing up enemy stragglers and deserters. Yeah, though (minor spoilers for the arc after the one you're referring to) this is followed by them going back into a different dungeon and basically repeating the same sort of stuff they were doing with the kobolds. Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Feb 17, 2019 |
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Feb 17, 2019 03:54
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Piell posted:Chapter 48. 'normal' fuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuu
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Feb 17, 2019 04:11
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Ytlaya posted:Finished Unsouled and reading the second Cradle book now. I really like them! Yerin is pretty cool, and I'm curious to see how the protagonist develops. I'm pretty sure this Jai Long guy is important, since I remember seeing other people mentioning that name when discussing this series. I have no clue where this stuff with the Abidan is supposed to be going, since it seems like it's going to be completely disconnected from Lindon's story until like 30 books into the future. Lindon's this big, naturally angry-looking guy who's built like a linebacker, because of course he would be. Once you start to get that mental image down, the books become a lot funnier.
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Feb 17, 2019 04:28
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Darth Walrus posted:Lindon's this big, naturally angry-looking guy who's built like a linebacker, because of course he would be. Once you start to get that mental image down, the books become a lot funnier. For some reason I've always imagined him as sort of a tall, dark-ish skinned asian guy with bad acne scars* and kinda short spiky hair. I did not imagine him as particularly buff, though, outside of being generally physically fit. * I have no idea where this part came from but it strongly characterizes my mental image
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Feb 17, 2019 04:54
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Ytlaya posted:For some reason I've always imagined him as sort of a tall, dark-ish skinned asian guy with bad acne scars* and kinda short spiky hair. I did not imagine him as particularly buff, though, outside of being generally physically fit. Lindon is relatively weak and that is heavily emphasized in the early books. But, like Darth Walrus said, I think he's supposed to look like a 'roid raging linebacker. I think there's supposed to be a comedic disconnect between his physical strength/appearance and everyone else's vastly superior madra strength. I agree its not super clear in the early books but it continues to be a theme that everyone who meets him thinks he's glaring intimidatingly at them. It's also almost the first description we get in the first book; the bit about the copper teen saying Lindon looks like he's spoiling for a fight.
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Feb 17, 2019 05:40
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LLSix posted:Lindon is relatively weak and that is heavily emphasized in the early books. But, like Darth Walrus said, I think he's supposed to look like a 'roid raging linebacker. I think there's supposed to be a comedic disconnect between his physical strength/appearance and everyone else's vastly superior madra strength. I agree its not super clear in the early books but it continues to be a theme that everyone who meets him thinks he's glaring intimidatingly at them. It's also almost the first description we get in the first book; the bit about the copper teen saying Lindon looks like he's spoiling for a fight. Oh, it's been mentioned already that he is constantly sort of sneering (Yerin mentions that she noticed he looks like he's spoiling for a fight when he's afraid). I just didn't really get the specific vibe of him being a physically bigger-than-normal or notably muscular guy.
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Feb 17, 2019 06:25
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Sometime during the first book it says that he inherited his parents large stature, but without any of their power. I love the conflict between his looks and his personality, it gets more interesting to me the more powerful he gets, because then his looks and strength start to line up, but he's still such a sweetie.
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Feb 17, 2019 19:08
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Thank you for all the suggestions on starter stories. I've read the first few chapters of all of them. For me, Cradle did the best job of explaining what stuff was even though it uses different terms, followed by Forge of Destiny. I'm still confused as to what cycling is supposed to be or do though. Maybe the writers are too. It seems like its most commonly used as a synonym for meditation, but people also "cycle" in the middle of combat and to increase their energy maximum and to recover energy and... So what the heck is cycling and what are people actually doing when writers use that term?
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Feb 17, 2019 20:35
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It refers to cycling your energy, a reference to moving it around your body for a full cycle. In most cultivation stories, it is both how you get more powerful, as each cycle incrementally increases your overall power, but can also be done in combat to do stuff better. I'm being vague, because there's really no one size fits all and most stories tend to have their own slight variations on it.
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Feb 17, 2019 20:46
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LLSix posted:Thank you for all the suggestions on starter stories. I've read the first few chapters of all of them. For me, Cradle did the best job of explaining what stuff was even though it uses different terms, followed by Forge of Destiny. Cycling in Cradle is basically equivalent to cultivating in other cultivation/xianxia stories, like Forge of Destiny. It's basically meditating where you sort of absorb chi (or "madra" in Cradle) into your core/dantian which makes you spiritually stronger. I think Cradle also involves an element of passing(/cycling) it through your body, which can strengthen/heal you. Forge of Destiny describes it more directly, and that's essentially the same sort of thing cycling is in Cradle. Cradle simplifies things somewhat by not including meridians in the equation (which was a good choice IMO; Cradle is good about keeping the basic concept while removing the unnecessary elements).
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Feb 17, 2019 20:47
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Think of it as lifting weights but with your spirit energy.
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Feb 17, 2019 20:55
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Cycling or circulation as metaphors make more sense when you know a bit about Qi, the chinese philosophical/religious concept that its all based on. The character literally translates as air, and you would inhale qi from the world around you which would circulate through your body basically like oxygen does. Traditional Chinese Medicine posits illnesses as disruptions in the flow and circulation of qi inhaled from the air and ingested through food and drink present throughout the body's organs, etc. to tie that into xianxia stuff, cultivation is using a turbo instead of natural aspiration 
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Feb 17, 2019 22:50
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It's a pretty common concept in a lot of cultures actually. For example, the spirit part of "Holy Spirit" from the Bible also translates as "breath". Sky/mountain gods happen to be the the highest ranking deities in lots of religions (again bible), and those are also the places immortals are supposed to live.
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Feb 18, 2019 02:12
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Think of it as breathing exercises with your soul, basically.
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Feb 18, 2019 02:19
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Finished Soulsmith. Looks like Lindon is finally going to learn some sacred arts in the next book! What's the deal with Yerin's particular "iron body"? They acted like it was also really good, and I think it was mentioned that it gave "brute strength," but then Lindon mentioned how he could now match Yerin in terms of basic strength (in the context of saying how she could still kick his rear end because of her sacred arts).
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Feb 18, 2019 18:06
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Ytlaya posted:Finished Soulsmith. Looks like Lindon is finally going to learn some sacred arts in the next book! Yerin has an even better Iron Body when it comes to raw strength.
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Feb 18, 2019 18:16
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Ytlaya posted:Finished Soulsmith. Looks like Lindon is finally going to learn some sacred arts in the next book! I assume that it was just some Endless Sword thing. Top-tier like Lindon's blood-iron, but slightly different in mechanics and functionality. She's a genius prodigy who served under an excellent and immensely skilled teacher. She got cool stuff and useful, sensible advice on how to get the most out of it. That's really all there is to it.
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Feb 18, 2019 18:17
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Ytlaya posted:Finished Soulsmith. Looks like Lindon is finally going to learn some sacred arts in the next book! I think it’s mentioned when they’re discussing Iron bodies that hers doesn’t provide as much of a benefit until later levels of advancement. In later books, we first see that it gives her outsized strength benefits when she hits Highgold. Basically, it naturally generates a level of physical strength that other paths need to use a technique to match, but you don’t see it at the level she’s at in Soulsmith.
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Feb 18, 2019 18:23
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Silynt posted:I think it’s mentioned when they’re discussing Iron bodies that hers doesn’t provide as much of a benefit until later levels of advancement. In later books, we first see that it gives her outsized strength benefits when she hits Highgold. Basically, it naturally generates a level of physical strength that other paths need to use a technique to match, but you don’t see it at the level she’s at in Soulsmith. Ohhh, thanks, this makes sense (and now that you mention it I believe something like this was mentioned during that conversation). I get the impression there's a pretty huge gap between Truegold and Underlord. All the golds we've seen so far, regardless of stage, have abilities that aren't anything too nuts (to make a Forge of Destiny comparison, all Gold-level techniques in the Cradle books seem roughly comparable with the stuff Yellow/Silver people can do in FoD), while Eithan has a genuinely crazy ability.
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Feb 18, 2019 18:58
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