Stars Of Chaos 杀破狼

I'm linking some of MoonIvy's reddit posts, in case you'd like to read about their language learning journey. They are awesome! They're one of the authors of the Heavenly Path Reading Guide! That guide is super helpful, and I followed a lot of it's advice (and Heavenly Path's recommendations) once I was starting to read more. Heavenly Path also has a ton of recommendations of things you can read that are different difficulty levels, so I suggest browsing their suggestions if you have no idea what to read.

Also, if you use Readibu app, the app can give you a rough estimate of the HSK level of the chapter you're reading (you'll just open the chapter you're reading, click the book icon in lower middle of screen, then click Stats. You'll see a Comprehension % by reader's HSK level). For beginners, I suggest you try to find novels that say 90% or more over the HSK 4 level, or at least 80% and up if you can't find anything easy at first. Once you've moved from graded readers to simpler kids novels like 秃秃大王, novels with a 90%+ comprehension at HSK 4 level above will be the next easiest for you to read. (Later on: if you're looking to extensively read and barely look words up, look for 95-98% comprehension at the HSK level you think you're roughly at). For example, I'm reading 盗墓笔记 and it's 93% comprehensible for HSK 5 level, 98% comprehensible at HSK 6 level, and my vocabulary range is between HSK 5-6 roughly so it makes sense I can read dmbj extensively if I want (without word lookups and still understand it), but still have several unknown words I could look up if desired.

From intermediate to native webnovels in 18 months (Some wonderful mentions of what MoonIvy read. I also read 秃秃大王, 大林和小林, and 笑猫日记 by 杨红樱 and felt they were really good novels to read after graded readers but before novels like 盗墓笔记 and 撒野).

21 months of reading native books, and breaking into native platforms

Learn Mandarin Chinese to read danmei — it will be challenging but worth it

I can read novels without a dictionary after 3 years of reading danmei (Chinese boy love)

I reached 3,000 unique character knowledge by reading children's books and danmei (Chinese boy love) 

Some little notes of my own experience, I guess in relating to the journey others took. So: for me, I read stuff WAY harder than graded readers, when I initially tried to read webnovels. It was hard, and it probably made me feel more exhausted than I needed to feel. But it was motivating. So if you really enjoy X difficult novel, you can try to read it whenever, and keep reading it as long as you feel the desire to.

There was one person who shared their reading experience on the chineselanguage subreddit (I'm trying to find the post again) who read 撒野 after like 3 months of initial study. That's way faster than I would've tried! That's a huge spike in difficulty from knowing nothing to reading a novel with thousands of unique words in a few months! But some people just will find that they enjoy doing that, and it works for them, so don't be afraid to just TRY doing what you want to do and see how it goes. It might go awesome. And if it's so hard it's demotivating, you can always go look for something easier for a while.

I tried to read 镇魂 from pretty much my first month, and never got farther than a couple paragraphs until over a year of study. I'd take a glance at it once in a while, and see if it was easier to read, until one day it was 'doable' to actually try reading (while looking unknown words up). I tried reading 默读 from like month 5 onward, usually using a parallel mtl text and only picking up a few words, it was not doable to read until maybe 1.5-2 years into learning. I was already reading the mtl of 默读 because the english translation only had like 20 chapters back then, so I just would try to read the chinese original in small sentence pieces at times. Around 8-10 months I started trying to read 天涯客, and it kind of was doable in Pleco app's Reader as long as I looked up a lot of words. It used to take me 1.5-2 hours to get through a chapter, then over the next 6 months things got better and it'd take 1 hour then 40 minutes then finally 20-30 minutes per chapter. At the same time as reading 天涯客, I also read 小王子 around month 12 extensively (looking no words up) because I had the print book and wanted to practice reading extensively, I read 笑猫日记 by 杨红樱 read in Pleco while looking up words (which was easier for me to read than 天涯客 and helped me build up reading stamina and basic vocabulary a bit), and I read a pingxie fanfic called 寒舍 by 夏灬安兰. I read around 60 chapters of that fanfic, and 30 chapters of 天涯客, over those 6 months. 寒舍 was harder to read than 笑猫日记, but easier than 天涯客, so I would switch between all 3 stories depending on how hard/easy I wanted my reading to be. Eventually 笑猫日记 felt readable without word lookups, so I used 寒舍 as my 'easier' read and 天涯客 (and added 镇魂) as my harder reads. Then 寒舍 became readable without word lookups if I wanted (still had unknown words but they no longer affected my ability to follow the plot and most important details), so 镇魂 became my harder novel to read.

And that's pretty much the strategy I continued to use: I would bounce between a 'easier' novel I could read extensively, a medium difficulty novel I could just look keywords up with (if I didn't feel like looking up a ton of words) to understand, and a 'harder' novel I had to look up words in order to read. Maybe 2 years in (I don't quite remember now), I picked some 'easier' novels from Heavenly Path's recommendations with only 1000-2000 unique words, and read some of them to fill in gaps in my basic vocabulary (so looking up unknown words) and practice extensive reading with some of them. I think that was a really helpful decision, and improved my reading comprehension and stamina a LOT. If I could go back, I would've read a lot more 'easier' 1000-2000 unique word novels before trying to push right into the novels I did. But then, on the other hand? I think pushing right into 'difficult' novels helped me learn vocabulary to read priest's writing in particular, much faster, which was rough going at the start but now pays off because I find that author's stories have more words/phrases/sentence structures I'm comfortable with, and also a decent murder mystery/investigative vocabulary base which is helpful since it's a genre I like reading. Without all the 镇魂 reading I did in the past, I think 破云 would be almost incomprehensible to me. But instead, since I did read those investigative words a lot early on, novels like 默读 and SCI are now 'medium' feeling novels to me, and 破云 is harder but readable if I look words up.

WangXian Kisses! 💖

by  도세 @DOSAE_ANIMATION (YT / IG / TWITTER / WEIBO) ※Permission to post this was given by the artist (©). Please do not repost, edit or remove credits. 

Do your followers know about Libby? It's an app where, at least in the United States, you can listen to as many professionally recorded audio books as you'd like for FREE, so long as you have a library card. You don't even need to visit the library, you can just borrow the audiobooks from your phone.

I don't know. I hope they do. But perhaps a few more of them will after reading this.

Libby App

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MDZS Vol 5 Annotations 2

Part 2 of 6, pages 53 - 131

More annotations to help reading-flow! And another useless comment about another beautiful illustration.

JC is being disrespectful again, referring to LWJ as something akin to “that Lan guy.”

He is not talking to LWJ, but is instead complaining at Jin Ling.

More under the cut.

(Really? A GRE-vocab word here, where everything else is common-usage words?)

Yah… JGY isn’t supposed to have a right hand anymore by the time of this illustration…

As if LWJ would ever “call out” to anyone under less-than dire circumstances.

MDZS Masterlist.

All the Books I'm Annotating Masterlist.

Zhou Shen Song Obsession of the week: 无问 No Matter.

Apparently this is a song written (lyrics) by oft-collaborator Mao Buyi for the movie 无问西东 Forever Young, starring Zhang Ziyi, Wang Leehom, and other people I should probably know but don’t. The movie looks beautiful, but it doesn’t look like it’s bursting with happiness, so…

Zhou Shen sang 无问 for Singer 2020 in one of their Quarantine Sessions (I think), against a plain white wall, wearing an oversized jacket that looked like it could slip off any moment; his hair was tousled and his eyes looked puffy and no one had touched up his eyebrows — he looked exactly like how a lover is supposed to look after a long night of sharing heartfelt feelings. He starts in a whisper that hooks into your heart like the scent of jasmine in the dark before morning, and then the song and his voice build into a spectacular dawn, then settle once more into the most intimate whisper imaginable. I can’t linguistically express how this song makes me feel, except Loved.

https://youtu.be/9bWNHPuCxr8

I hope you like it, too.

Lyrics have been translated, if you’d like to read.

I am new to DMBJ fandom and I want to ask a favour. Would you introduce me to some dmbj tumblr blogs, active or on hiatus. No pressure though.

Hello anon!! I have no idea when you sent this to me, and honestly huge apologies since I've been on hiatus for , like , literal months. Yikes. At this point you've probably found all the blogs you'd like to find, but I'll include a few that come to mind under the cut anyway! 

Please keep in mind that I've been on hiatus for several months, so there could be super ✨hot✨ and ✨fresh✨ new blogs I am not aware of, and/or some of these folks may have drifted out of the fandom, and/or my memory may have failed me!

Best of luck anon, and welcome! :D

DMemeBJers (A-Z)

@cross-d-a​ - crossy baby has been on hiatus for awhile but I think about her tits post literally every day. If anyone has a link please sent it to me. Please. I’m begging. 

@ghostyshades - a Meme Queen (gender neutral), tho I’m not sure if Sasha is still posting DMBJ?

@nope4ever - the absolute funniest DMemeBJ person alive

@psychic-waffles - Jack owns my entire ass and I would die for him, you’ve seen his sketches and you don’t even know, I love him

DMBJ Fan Artists / Gif Makers (A-Z)

@ashenwren / art blog @ashenlights - wonderful artist and all around good person! Multi-fandom but has some great DMBJ stuff :)

@creeds-eagle - Wonderful gifs across a variety of DMBJ shows!

@dmbjartreblogs, run by @unforth - thanks for the addition, Foxy!!! :)

@keichin - an incredible artist!! last I checked, mostly draws HeiHua + misc. from TLT3

@rose-nebulijia - does beautiful edits as well as incredible fic, is also my heart, love, and life. You may also see her referred to as Vishie!

@tianzhens - this is someone I just recently started following!

@wu-xie - makes gorgeous gifsets, though they may also be on hiatus??

DMBJ Fic Writers (A-Z)

@achray1 - multi-fandom blog and one of the absolute best fanfic writers I have had the pleasure to read

@amidalogicdive - very kind, great writer, and super involved in fandom projects!!

@chirpybirdy - I haven’t talked to them much, but I know they have a bunch of DMBJ fic? I’m not sure how frequently they post DMBJ

@dmbjexchange - a great place to start if you wanna get in on fic!

@eirenical - very horny for Zhu Yilong, which is relatable and sexy of them

@epicwalrus - a gem of a writer, person, and being. 10/10 good vibes

@foxofninetales​ - FOXY BABY is an absolute gem, a star, a great author and all around joy to be around, I really have no idea if she is still posting DMBJ but I think so and for that I include her

@hils79 - quite literally the nicest person on this hellsite, also a DMBJ legend @humanlighthouse​ - an absolute legend, PingXie fic queen, also has a very soft aesthetic that will make your dash ~glow~

@kholran - is any DMBJ rec list complete without the RiSang pool noodle? Signs point to no

@laireshi - incredible author with equally incredible feelings about Xiaoge and I think that’s very fun, flirty, and sexy of them

@mejomonster - multi-fandom, but can always be counted on for EXTENSIVE and HEART-RENDING DMBJ tags

@merinnan - multifandom and multi-interest blog; prolific writer in DMBJ + very involved in DMBJ fan events and such!

@pissmeoffanddie - not DMBJ exclusive but YES genuinely the most wonderful

@s1utspeare​ - an absolute fucking legend, mostly posting M9, Fo/FuBa, and other fandoms now, but still a great DMBJ source!!

@thosch3i - not on tumblr a whole lot but when they are I am almost guaranteed to peel at my yellow wallpaper about it

@traineecryptid - great writer and very fun dash energy!

@undyingsunshine - if you like crying about Li Cu, have I got the blog for you!!!!

Good Vibes and DMBJ Content (A-Z)

@dmbjaddict and @theyareinlovecanttellmeotherwise are great blogs if you want lots of DMBJ / PingXie content on your feed!!

@canary3d-obsessed - actually not sure how much she posts DMBJ consistently, but her DMBJ fashion posts literally ascended me to the heavenly realm  

@jaecomments - the literal love of my life, professional hype beast

@justpostsyeet - always down for a good head canon discussion, especially about our fave bitchy ex ;)

@greymouser13 - I have no idea if they are still posting DMBJ but I do know that they bring me joy, and thus here they are

@kolachess - super interesting posts, head canons, and translation discussion! (multi-fandom)

@mythochondrion - bonk, go to horny jail

@ninbayphua - Ninby posts loads of fandoms, incl. DMBJ! Also has a writing blog that you can find here: @ninbayphua-moyan

@uschickens - great head canons and DMBJ discussion, same good vibes as @momosandlemonsoda

@xcziel - follow for the tags, stay for the incredible loving energy 

@xiaobaibai - a great place to find fanart and general good vibes :)

@xia-xueyi - not DMBJ exclusive but has a really cute turtle and really nice energy so.... 🐢

Mystic Nine Specific, & We Love That For Them (A-Z)

@elletromil - every day I think about how talented Elle is, and every day I weep. These are related events.

@gaiahenshin - immediately after weeping about Elle, I think about how kind and lovely Gaia is, and then the weeping recommences. These are related events. 

I’m sure there are loads I missed, and others I mis-labelled! Please feel free to add corrections and additions in the reblogs or notes. :)

The sweetest scene ever ❤️

Your name engraved herein (2020), dir. Kuang-Hui Liu

MDZS Vol 4 Annotations

Part 1, pages 1-49

I finally finished Book 4! It was beautiful! I loved it! But a lot of word and phrasing choices didn’t fit my personal interpretation of the MDZS world, and the final chapter of Book 4 was translated based on an earlier version of MDZS, so I have a ton of notes.

Alright. Here we go:

The author is very affectionately roasting LWJ here, and simultaneously showing how LXC is an expert at reading his enigmatic little brother. The contrast between the high-register language of the brothers’ conversation vs the relatively informal narrative language is obvious in Chinese, and serves to make this short and otherwise rather somber exchange more interesting and a little bit fun.

I had a hard time with contractions and slang in this book. I’m sure it’s in all the other books, too, but this time the “gonna”s and “gotta”s and “yah”s rubbed me the wrong way.

Every single character in MDZS (except Xue Yang) is highly educated and speaks with care and precision. WWX talks more colloquially than LWJ (or, rather, LWJ speaks like ancient poetry and WWX just talks), and JC tends to punctuate conversations with criticism and threats, but they all speak like they endured years of formal schooling and have hundreds of classical poems and ancient texts memorized.

Get to know you?

Tagged by @theji

Tag some number of people you want to get to know better/catch up with.

Last song - #357 of a 413- song Zhou Shen playlist. I’m working my way through ALL of Zhou Shen’s songs!

One of my favorite recent discoveries (I am truly grateful to all those Youtubers who put these long playlists together) is when some show had some people in costume trying to sing 芒种Mang Zhong and doing a terrible job of it -- like, it sounded like me trying to sing, and my kids won’t even let me sing them lullabies --, and then Zhou Shen struts in with an entourage, singing with confidence, power, perfect pitch, and crazy charisma.  It’s worth it to hear the bad singing in the beginning just to more fully experience and understand just how different and special Zhou Shen’s singing is.   

And then he sang a little bit of 左手指月(Left Hand Pointing at the Moon).  Wow. 

Last movie - The last movie I watched that was new to me was 刻在你心底的名字 Your Name Engraved Herein, on Netflix.  It was crazy good. It was so good that I spent the next week obsessing over it and not feeling the slightest bit tired (my new measure for how strongly something affects me: if it can replace sleep, it’s Good).  Some reviews mention that the movie is sad, but I watched through to the last second and actually found it quite positive.  It ends with happiness and hope.  That’s enough for me to look forward to a(n emotionally wrenching but ultimately sweet) re-watch.  

The last movie that I actually watched was 闪光少女Our Shining Days (no longer on Netflix, but still free on Youtube!).  It’s the perfect antidote to all emotionally wrenching media, while still being beautiful and subtle and, actually, kinda deep and meaningful, especially for those of us who really care about traditional Chinese arts. And it’s hilarious and the music is Awesome.

Currently reading - 镇魂 Guardian by Priest.  I’m only on Chapter 4, but I’m totally enamored.  I am still getting used to the new vocabulary and sentence structures of Priest (new to me) vs 墨香铜臭Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (魔道祖师 x2!), though, so it’s slow going right now.  

Currently watching - ...still on Street Dance of China Season 3.  Someday I’ll finish Episode 9.  I really like it, honestly!  I just really like to give it my full attention, read all the cute little pop-up comments, and, well, I haven’t figured out yet just when I’m (stealing my kids’ ipad and) doing that.

Currently craving - Anything Asian.  Please!

Tagging: @herr-zhou, @coffintownkids, @bimingjue 

18 notes

Zhou Shen did another photoshoot for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival performance. It’s one of his Serious Photoshoots.

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4812237040521729

And always the huge white sneakers.