lookitmychickenNov 29, 2022
#MDZS challenge by Elenir
1. Adaptation you experienced first
2. Favorite version
3. Favorite character
4. Sect you would choose
5. Best fight scene
6. Favorite quote
7. Best dressed character
8. Favorite jnr
9. Best villain
10. Favorite ship
11. Favorite weapon
12. Overrated character
13. Underrated character
14. Best Clan residence to live at
15. Most heartbreaking scene
16. Funniest moment
17. Worst parental figure
18. Who should have lived
19. Most underrated moment
20. Favorite cast member
Show threadlookitmychicken

19. Most underrated moment
Hmm ... Maybe the sex scenes in the novel? Because they're not that good at sex, at least not to start with. And at first it seems kind of cringy & ridiculous.

But over time, I've grown quite fond of them. Because they're not good at it, but they love each other so much anyway.

(I'm choosing to believe that they practice a lot & get much better over time.)

Dec 3, 2022 at 9:14amWeb
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken One of the funniest moments in a fic for me was one where WWX went back into his child self & redid his life but better, and at some point good-mom-YZY saw his old life through his mind and was like "oh no, oh no no no you boys are NOT having terrible sex this time around, I will educate you." And LWJ took notes. I can't remember which fic it is because there are a couple with that general storyline, but I still occasionally think about it and mentally high-five the author.
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022
@arboreous
Ahaha yes I remember that one too! And I also can't remember which fic it was, d'oh.
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken Wow sorry, I skipped some of my thought process there - that comment followed me thinking in response to your post "yes those are some good scenes and I also like to think that they figure some things out over time like you know lube and oh that reminds me of a fic where..."
Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@arboreous @lookitmychicken That's interesting, it has never occurred to me to see the sex scenes in the novel as they don't know how do to it better and will improve with time. I read them as intentionally kinky. There was no indication e.g. from lwj that he's taking notes on how to cause wwx less pain next time around... Or am I misunderstanding you? Of course a fic author might just pretend that's why their sex was like that and fix it in their AU :)
Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@arboreous @lookitmychicken Also this fic sounds interesting, I don't think I know it! Could it be a sequel of Paper moon? I've read the long one but no sequels.
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous oh yes it could be paper moon! I tend to only rec completed works, & I think paper moon is still a WIP.

https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654885

The Same Moon Shines - sami, Winterstar1412 - myself really, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous

I stopped reading WIPs a year or so ago (because my leaky brain couldn't hold multiple ongoing plots in between published instalments). But I read a lot of the paper moon series before making that call.

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Ah I don't read WIPs either but this is a long finished fic and I'm not sure I even noticed that there were more parts in the series at the time :D That's why I still haven't read any further.
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous oh the series shows as incomplete when I look at the series page.

I know a lot of authors don't mark their series as complete even when they are, which frustrates me a bit.

I have my 'unread' list filtered to show only works & series that are marked as complete, so if an author never marks their series as complete, it won't show up on my unread list.

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Wait, you can filter your marked for later list?? How! 👀 I want to do that!!
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous You can't. That's why I don't use Marked For Later any more.

At some point I'll probably write a detailed thread on how I do my bookmarks, but for now:

1. Private bookmark everything I want to read and add bookmarker tag "unread".
2. Filter my own bookmarks on bookmarker tag "unread" and more options "complete: true".
3. When I read a fic, or start reading & don't like it enough to continue, delete the "unread" tag.
4. If I liked it, make bookmark public.

Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous
5. If I liked it enough to rec, select the Rec checkbox.

I try to write recs immediately after I've finished reading (so I remember the details well enough to rec).

I also have "Twt rec" and "fedirec" tags that I add to works after I've publicly recced them. So I can search for any fics that I want to rec but haven't yet.

Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous
Oh, I also have a version of my unread filter called "unread SFW" that excludes anything rated mature or explicit.

So I can pick stuff to read on the train without worrying about scandalising the person next to me. :)

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Wow that's so organized! Impressive! So you're one of the vanishingly few people on AO3 who know how many and which fics they've actually read or at least started reading?
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous
Yes, mostly. I haven't been doing it since the very beginning. Only when I realised that the Marked for Later button doesn't actually work how I think it should.

I hate that when you click "Mark As Read" it doesn't actually do any such thing. It just turns off the "Mark For Later" toggle.

Since I read a lot of fic, and my memory's not great, I wanted a better way to know if I've already read something or at least considered reading it.

Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous If I read something 2 years ago and someone recs it again now, if I don't have it bookmarked, AO3 won't tell me that I already read it and clicked the "Mark As Read" button.

It's handy because I collect other people's recs to find new stuff to read. I can click on an AO3 link and immediately see whether I have previously bookmarked it, or if it's brand new to me.

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Yes, I often read fics or start them and then realize I've read them before (even worse when I don't and I'm told that I've left kudos there before 😳). It's happening more now because I get recs from new sources (you all here on Mastodon) and I'm also going through my twt bookmarks.
I don't know why a marked as read hasn't been implemented by AO3 yet, it can't be so complicated?
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous
I don't think it's complicated. It's probably just not very high up the priority list.

Currently, the marked-for-later is a simple binary toggle: yes/no.

For it to work the way it should, there would have to be three states:
- Never marked
- Marked for later
- Marked as read

... and the display options would have to be reworked accordingly to determine which of the states applies.

With my techie hat on, I can see it will have a lot of knock-on effects.

Show threadEm (Serenade)Dec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken wow this is so organized! I just collect open tabs on my phone.
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@serenadestrong oh lordy I couldn't manage that! I know a lot of people do it, but it stresses me out to see that many tabs open on my phone or browser.

Also, uh, I currently have 1,411 bookmarks to unread completed works (with each completed series counting as a single work). And 828 bookmarks to unread incomplete works.

Ahahah oh dear.

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @serenadestrong What!! 😵 Do you put all WangXian fics on that list?
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @serenadestrong ahaha not at all! only the ones that other people rec, or that are by authors I like.

And it's not just wangxian.

We are in a VERY prolific fandom.

Show threadJuliaDec 4, 2022
@lookitmychicken That we are! 🙏😍
Show threadEm (Serenade)Dec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken I only have 63 tabs! Totally manageable 😂
Show threadKatriina (at Bluesky 🦋)Dec 4, 2022
@lookitmychicken @serenadestrong
That's a lot of bookmarks 🤭
Show threadBias 🔞Dec 4, 2022
@lookitmychicken Yes, I've accidentally kept my series as "incomplete" even when they're not. Unfortunately, AO3 sets them to "incomplete" by default, and it's just... kind of out-of-the-way, I guess? Changing it to "complete" isn't intuitive - some people probably don't even know there's a complete/incomplete toggle on series. :(
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken It's been a while since I read the web novel extras but iirc there is generally no lube / no or little prep? Which makes me cringe because owwwwww. That's what I hope they get better at....
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022
@arboreous @thalassa Yes that's what I was thinking too. They can still do all the fun CNC stuff that they like, but add some prep & lube too. :)
Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Well they seemed to like the pain / inflicting pain, too, and probably it's also mxtx who liked it since she described in detail how wwx is bleeding while complaining in that coquettish way... Ugh. Sorry, but it really didn't sound like inexperienced lovers being too impatient.
Show threadBias 🔞Dec 4, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken @arboreous Yes - it's been a while, but that's how I read it! I remember liking that aspect as well, as a reader. I think it would be bad sex for most other people, but novel Wangxian gave me the impression of enjoying a lack of prep/lube.
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken and the taking notes - that was in a fic, not the novel extras!
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken the taking notes was also during YZY's sex talk, not during sex. Though now I'm imagining LWJ taking notes during sex and ahahahaha
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@arboreous @thalassa he would tie WWX up and do careful experiments.

Hmm, if I bite Wei Ying's earlobe in this way, he squirms just like this. Is this repeatable? What happens if I adjust this variable?

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@arboreous @lookitmychicken I just meant it in a figurative way, like in fics it's often made clear that they're learning and adapting to each other, whereas in the novel I didn't see that at all.
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken yeah, I didn't see that in the novel extras, it's just me liking to think they would get better.
Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@arboreous @lookitmychicken Definitely! I prefer AUs where they never even go through that phase 🙈 where the characterization is closer to cql.
Show threadArboreousDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @lookitmychicken My main source of knowledge about the characters is CQL, so I'm with you there. But while I haven't read all of MDZS I did read the extras because I saw so many references to them and I was so confused about...basically why sex in WX fics is often written the way it is? I'm good at suspended disbelief, but I needed context.
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous
I think LWJ was probably a bit too overwhelmed that first time to be taking any notes.

They are definitely into the kinkier aspects, especially CNC, & like a bit of pain. I'm thinking more of how LWJ just pounds away in one position for an hour or so.

It's very handy that WWX has a self-lubing asshole, but I also prefer a little bit of prep & lube in my sex scenes.

Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022
@thalassa @arboreous
I do think that they will get way more creative & just plain better at things over time. WWX loves to invent & be creative, and LWJ is devoted to making WWX happy in every possible way.
Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous He doesn't though...? This isn't a/b/o, what do you mean?
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous It wasn't sarcasm, my memory told me that WWX had a self-lubing asshole because MXTX wrote him that way (not omegaverse).

But I've just gone back to read it again and I can't find any evidence of such a thing.

So I clearly misremembered whoops!

Show threadJuliaDec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @arboreous Some fics have probably done that even without being a/b/o, maybe that's where you got it?
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022

@thalassa @arboreous No, in my mind it was definitely an MXTX thing.

Maybe I dreamed it. 

Show threadEm (Serenade)Dec 3, 2022
@lookitmychicken @thalassa @arboreous I also think I saw that somewhere! It's very old school yaoi manga lolol
Show threadArcane Yunmeng JamsDec 3, 2022
@serenadestrong @lookitmychicken @thalassa @arboreous I think in the incense burner extra there might have been magic dream lube but that's magic dream lube. In the waking world they definitely just went at it with spit and prayer, which... no thank you 😆
Show threadEm (Serenade)Dec 3, 2022
@theleakypen @lookitmychicken @thalassa @arboreous haha I know even ~back in the day~ it bothered some people but I cut my teeth on yaoi_daily and am perfectly happy to suspend my disbelief! (Unsafe anal toys though, that I can't deal with)
Show threadlookitmychickenDec 3, 2022
@theleakypen
ohhh magic dream lube, that makes sense! I must've got it mixed up in my head with the waking world scenes