Well, I only started reading PR so far but I have read everything that is out for The Beholden rn(re-read it twice xdd)and omg I have to be honest that I cannot stress my love for The Beholden enough. The quality is in my opinion strikingly better (not that PR is bad or anything). I feel like there's less unnecessary pace slowing in TB, as much as there is a lot of the 'slow burn' lol, however it appears as everything that's being conveyed is absolutely needed and important and I wouldn't complain for a second. Also the setting is such a breath of fresh air as opposed to PR which is more mundane but solid anyway. I just prefer to get lost in a very well structured, well researched fantasy world because those kind of stories are less common on here. It's truly one of a kind and magnificently written. When the ordinary things that happen to us mortals get dragged out too much and over described like in PR (agan idk how it impoved, I've only read a couple of the first chapters), it's not as interesting as learning about the quirks and rules of TB world, the reserved nature of how ppl were taught to act, the robes, the baths, the scents, the anxiety which drowns you when someone crosses the line because you're not used to it, the heavy topics, the dreadful pain, betrayal, the savored peaceful moments, the silences, eveything boggles my mind and peaks my interest. I am hungry to learn more of the hidden emotions of the characters and not just the main, but even the side characters are developed enough with just a few words and ocational spotlight. Every fidget of Baekhyun, every new face of Chanyeol has me curious for the other things they have inside that cannot be seen yet, if they ever will. They're such complex people, giving off the illusion of them actually being alive and not just on paper. Ive never read a ffc which has has a smoother flow than TB. Its captivating, really. The amount of words that have remained unspoken, left for interpretation is perfect. Sometimes, the reader has to tie the loose ends by themselves and it's a very frustrating but great thing. I'm kind of always on the edge, stressing that maybe one day the story will dissapear, especially since its not savable offline. But I trust it will not or I would actually cry. The characters' journey from being misunderstood to gaining things as they go feels so natural and yet they never become immune to bad things even as they grow stronger and I really appreciate that. They hurt and get hurt till the very end. Okay, that was basically just me rambling about The Beholden but im off to dive more into Phoenix Rising so I'll come back later to maybe add smtg lol xdd ♡ I really respect you btw ♡

Right now I like PR better... if only because that world is familiar and there aren't very many world discrepancies to think about and process. Then again, right now I'm at the end of a month long stint of 10-13 hour days at work and I got about 4 hours of sleep last night.

PR is familiar to me, and I'm prone to drag my feet on trying new things most of the time, including completely new worlds and concepts and ideas. I can appreciate the hard work you've put into world-building for TB but I literally can't understand it or wrap my brain around it yet. Maybe in a week or so, a couple of weeks.

I'm just really tired right now. XD

In my opinion, both stories tackle some heavy subjects. The Beholden treats them with a lot more subtlety (the reader has to draw their own parallels between what happens in the story and what happens in life), which I read as a sign of maturity. Sometimes, writers want to make everything incredibly legible for their readers, to make sure they understand everything they wanted to say. The Beholden isn’t like that. The subjects of discrimination, of racism, of religion, of ism, of classism aren’t shoved down the readers’ throats. They are lightly addressed, with the seriousness they deserve. Obviously, the classism and discrimination is a big piece of the story, because there wouldn’t be a story if Baekhyun wasn’t Accursed, but it’s almost easy for the reader to forget that something like what Baekhyun is going through happens in everyday life. (And that, even if the physical appearance of Baekhyun’s garment is exactly the same as Muslim women’s.) For me, the way those problems are addressed in the story is one of its big strengths.

How Phoenix Rising deals with homouality and homophobia is really straight-forward. For the story, it totally works, because homophobia is the driving force of most of Baekhyun’s actions. It also works because it anchors the story into a realism that makes sense with Seoul and South Korea’s current views of uality. The stance of the author on the subject is really clear, it doesn’t leave space for the reader to interpret and make their own opinion on the subject (which doesn’t bother me because I think the reader would still accept homouality throughout the fic. The characters really bring the reader into acceptance.) While The Beholden is subtle, Phoenix Rising is “in your face” but I think it works for both stories.

The Beholden’s story is, in my opinion, more unique than Phoenix Rising. While this opinion has a little bit to do with the universe created for The Beholden, I’m mainly basing it on the story itself (I’ll come back to the universe later.) Not considering my previous point about the issues addressed in both stories, The Beholden isn’t strictly a romance story. Of course, there’s an element of romance between Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but even that isn’t tackled in an overly romantic way. Their relationship doesn’t develop in a typical fashion, regardless of their power relation. There isn’t what I call the “steps towards romance” which basically include the “learning about each other” and “courting each other” and “sleeping with each other.” I haven’t really seen those steps in The Beholden. Their relationship evolves really smoothly, without the reader really being able to tell that they’ve made progress. It is basically impossible for the reader to pinpoint the exact moment where their dynamic shifted from a more casual relationship to a more romantic relationship and I think it’s great.

Phoenix Rising has a totally opposite approach to Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s relationship. It’s based on , in the beginning, and quickly turns into a destructive and unhealthy relationship. This is the base point of my opinion. Destructive relationships are overly present in online stories (and in stories in general, they are a great way to capture the reader’s interest and keep them hook on the story. Most readers will often pick a side and stick with it, which only pushes them to read more and more to satisfy their curiosity.) While I think it is beautifully written and well tackled, it still is fairly common. One strength of this story is that it doesn’t fall in melodrama too much or too quickly. The story had the potential to be way too dramatic, with Baekhyun’s mental health issues and his internalized homophobia and Chanyeol’s own issues, but, as the rest of the story, it’s handled with realism. With that in mind, I think The Beholden is slightly more unique in the relationship aspect.

There are clichés in both stories, but I don’t think it’s that evitable. Clichés are, after all, based on actual situations. The Beholden talks about the relationship between people of two different classes, rich and poor, Accursed and Prince. It deals with Romeo and Juliet-esque tropes, with the whole “Baekhyun has to die to make Chanyeol king” situation. What is really refreshing is that it takes the back row in numerous points in the story, to the point that the reader forgets that Baekhyun is even in danger. The reader gets carried on by the discovery of the palace, by the positivity that Baekhyun exudes and forgets all about the dangers. In fact, because there is no change in point of view during the entire story, the reader really “becomes” Baekhyun and experiences the same emotions and feelings as him. That’s why, when he himself forgets his possible death, the reader forgets too.


In both stories, the characters are developed in a believable way, but I find myself more attached to The Beholden’s Baekhyun to Phoenix Rising’s Baekhyun. The whole beginning of Phoenix Rising is difficult to really absorb because there is too many things left unsaid. The reader spends more time trying to fill the missing pieces of Baekhyun’s story instead of creating a bond with his character. For me, at least, it took a while before I really could let myself go and feel for Baekhyun. Once that was done, though, the emotions started running high. I think the biggest strength of Phoenix Rising is the feelings. They become so powerful the more the story develops, until it becomes almost impossible to stay detached from the sufferings of both Baekhyun and Chanyeol. However, for me at least, it took a good bunch of chapters before I could get there.

The Beholden succeeds in that almost immediately. I think it’s a sign of maturity in your writing. After all, the beginning of Phoenix Rising has been written four years ago. I think the presentation of the universe and especially the characters (Baekhyun!) is beautiful but straight to the point. There’s enough information for the reader to understand everything, understand the position Baekhyun is in as an Accursed and the consequences it can have. This establishes a quick connection between the reader and the character, something that doesn’t let up as the chapters add on. There’s also just enough mystery for the reader to want to read more and know where the story is going. The balance between giving too much or too late information is a hard one to achieve and I think you really achieved it in The Beholden, while Phoenix Rising is still lacking a little bit.
Since none of the stories are completed at the moment, it’s hard for me to really form an opinion about the storyline. I must say that the twists in Phoenix Rising are really good. It’s one of the biggest strengths of the story. They always take the reader in another direction than the one they expected. Since, as I said before, there is a lot of mystery in Phoenix Rising, a lot of things the reader doesn’t understand, the twists work perfectly well. While it doesn’t help for connections with the characters, at least at the beginning, it works really well for storytelling.

I don’t know if I’m extremely perceptive or not, but I found The Beholden to be more straight forward. There are twists and turns in the story and information is given in strategic times to make the story move forward. However, I found myself guessing a lot of the twists before they happened and being right about them. While it doesn’t really bother me, I think Phoenix Rising is more surprising in its storyline than The Beholden.


Phoenix Rising can get a little repetitive. There’s a long moment in the story where the story seems to hit a plateau, with Baekhyun stuck between his love for Chanyeol and his need for a normal and safe life. While the emotions running through those chapters are poignant and make up for the lack of advancement in the story, I think it would be wise to consider adding minuscule development. The Beholden seems, from a reader point of view, to be more planned and developed. There is no repetition or timeout in the story. Of course, there are chapters with less action than others, but the fact that the story takes place in a fantasy world allows those pauses in the story to present the universe. Since Phoenix Rising can’t use this tactic, it can get a little repetitive. (Like myself, as I can see LOL)

Of course, since Phoenix Rising is already four years old, there are a lot of differences in the language quality. The more a writer writes, the better they get, no? The Beholden is majestically written. The way it is written fits the story and the universe perfectly. Phoenix Rising’s writing style also fits the story really well, concentrating on the feelings and the descriptions of the characters’ emotions and not so much on the universe, because all readers know what their universe looks like. However, and that might be a personal preference, there are a lot of Korean words in Phoenix Rising that don’t really have their place in the story. They are, granted, in the first chapters and completely disappear as the reader progresses in the story. I don’t think there’s a need for Korean words in the story, except for terms that cannot be translated.

Overall, even though I love both stories for completely different reasons, I humbly think The Beholden is better than Phoenix Rising. It feels like a fully realized vision and showcases how you grew as an author in the past years. Phoenix Rising has a special place in my hearts because of the feelings you succeeded in injecting in the work and the emotions it made me feel. Objectively, though, I think it could be incredibly better if you went back into it and edited it with the knowledge and the skills that you have right now, because the base is amazingly good!

I hope this review will help you for whatever you needed it for! You’re amazing and I’m happy to have found your stories and to consider you a friend now! Keep up the amazing work!!! Xoxo

I have read both and I love them! Honestly, PR is one of my fave fanfics cos I felt all of the emotions going on. I'm so attached to CB and BH's characters there because of all the drama. I really liked how well-written it was. For TB, the curiosity I have is there cos fantasyyyy! I also like the other characters and the main protagonists are so adorable despite the life and death dilemma. Actually, I love angst so PR was hella amazing and I believe TB is going to be a great fanfic like PR.

P.S. Back when the PR days, I've tweeting a lot about it and there were times(maybe twice) when you've had liked my tweets. Hahaha. Thank you, authornim! You're great and keep writing! Fighting!

Hello! I am a reader of both Pheonix Rising and The Beholden and eagerly await the update of both. I have been subscribed to Pheonix Rising for quite a while, but I don't think I ever commented. It's been awhile since I read all of Pheonix Rising. I have gone back and read some of my favorite scenes. Pheonix Rising is slighter darker in the context of the narrator (Baekhyun). Baekhyun is Pheonix Rising has been through hell and back and seen some terrible and it shows with his outlook on life. Baekhyun, the narrator, in The Beholden is slightly more sheltered. He is constantly being surprised with the insanity that is life. Moreso, Pheonix Rising focuses more on the drama of the romance and The Beholden focuses more of the drama of life or death. Both pieces are well written (with maybe 2 mistakes in the entire story) and interesting enough to keep readers coming back for more. That's all I could think of off the top of my head. Have a great day~

I think I've read phoenix rising using another account but I haven't read the beholdeb and based on everybody's response to this blog post I think it's also good,I better read it because I think it's really good and reread phoenix rising so that I'll be able to compare them

I've read and enjoyed both so far, though I read PR a longer time ago and it's not as fresh in my mind than TB. But I can say that I love both and that I get a very different feeling from them. PR is a bit more dark in my opinion, though i think that's because it's more relatable for us. It plays in our world, with our problems. It touches me on a very emotional level. While TB is still realistic in its world, it's still fantasy. So it feels more epic and adventures and fantastic, though a bit distant to my own personal life. But I feel with the characters either way because you just have this way of taking the reader into the world you created. in terms of quality i don't see a difference, they are both extremely amazing.

HELLO

Yes I've read both! In terms of quality, in my opinion, both are quiet high, but they also differ. I thought that Phoenix Rising had a more gut-wrenching emotionally impactful plot just because the circumstances for that situation, I find relatable. However, I LOVE the fantasy universe of Beholden! In both stories you've created characters that I've grown strongly attached to, and I love both stories. I think that part of the emotional impact from Phoenix Rising also comes from you spending less time world building and with a smaller cast of characters, so it's a more narrow, focused perspective as opposed to Beholden which spends more time on world building and with a wider variety of characters. I love both stories and I love you!! I hope my thoughts are able to give you what you wanted from this~

Hii...yess i have read both...atleast the earlier version of Beholden...but i am assuming the underlying notion is same..
Tbh if you would have asked which is my favourite,,it would have been difficult...too much
Both PR and Beholden are close to my heart..i have a bond with both of them...With PR i have been along for years...waiting for your updates and getting frustrated over baek's stupidness... XD
Whereas with Beholden i read most of the part in one go and it was overwhelming to the least...It was so much fun to try and solve the mystery and coming up with theories. They both are amazing stories. *_*
As far as characterization is considered, there was no drastic contrast in Chanyeol's character in both apart from apparent changes in genre and era imo unlike Baekhyun's. Baek's character was sooo drasticly different. Both were strong characters but totally opposite. Baek of PR is sorry to say but a little cowardice like he couldn't even accept who he was. Always running away and never accepting the truth. But Baek of Beholden is sooo brave and strong. From the first chapter itself he comes off as a courageous soul by praying even if he is not allowed to. Also Baek in PR is mature and knows all the hardships whereas baek of Beholden is naive for the most part.
But both the stories are gold and i love both of them equal parts. <3

I read both and both are amazing!!! Pheonix Rising is dear to me as I was following it for so long and PR ruined me emotionally more times that I can count.

I love the world building in Beholden, the little details , the issue that both Chanbaek is fighting for inchants u with the imagery...while PR wrecks you with reality and the issues are relatable tho beholden have some conflicts that is seen in real life too.

I think you tackle PR and Beholden differently, PR just hit u witht the feels while Beholden keeps you in your toes for all the things that yet to happen.

I both love PR and Beholden and I love the characterization on both fics.. So on point. I just rambled... I dont think I even helped... Sorry! ^^v

I've been a fan of your work for years already, and i can honestly say that you've written some of the best fics in the fandom. Phoenix Rising is very very dear to me, because I've been reading it from a long time, at different situations of my life, but it has never failed to enthrall me and just give me the feels all over again. The portrayal of the characters is wonderful, the storyline is unique and the pace is incredible. No matter how long it takes, I'd definitely be willing to wait for you to complete this actual masterpiece, which i never fail to recommend to some of my non-fandom friends too. Coming to The Beholden, this one again had me completely enchanted, because your style of writing is the best! You've upgraded alot in terms of descriptive writing, constructing a wholesome scene, and executing the plot seamlessly. It's just pure pleasure to read eveey chapter of it!
Asking me to choose between these would be like making me choose between two delectable dishes :P
All the hard work you put into these fics can be seen in the most amazing way, i hope you know how talented you really are.
P.s. Honorable mention to Middle of December, which is a work of art too <3

I started reading the beholden out of sadness that PR was incomplete and now I'm sadder waiting for both to update... I'm eating them both up as if my life depends on them...they are both unique and very different from each other...but the level of heartache is about as much the same...PR Baek because you know he makes poor choices and TB Baek because it feels like he'll make a tough choice for love

I have read the last updates for the both of them. I think both of them are more than amazong, but each one in its unique style and world. They are soo different but at the same time similar. For example they are different in terms of the characters, I mean u took Baek and Yeol's features and let's say physical appearance but they don't have the same personalities in both fics (I understand that it's because of the plots but wht I mean is that in a lot of fics we find that Baek and Yeol are always described as they are in real life, and that is kind of cliché, which I didn't find in ur fics and that's why they are one of my favorites!). On the other hand they are similar in the fact that when u read one of them u can be sure that u will learn smth interesting that can maybe change ur perspective on a particular topic or concerning even real life (that is if u choose to read btw the lines and look for morals in the story).
That means I love both of them and I thank u very very much for taking the time to write and share with us ^_^

I read both Phoenix Rising and The Beholden and of course I like both of them. The thing is, I like those fics because mainly because of how you write, how you build each word and combining them into sentences. They are so poetic and I think it is your strongest point as a writer. They are definitely different, the genres are different, how you portray each character is different, the message you would like to send is different. So it is very hard to compare. However, if I really must choose which one I like more, I think I have to choose Phoenix Rising due to reasons you probably know. Phoenix Rising is set in the present Seoul which is very easy to picture in my head. I can imagine all the things you write and I can make the movie out of the words easily in my mind. Compared to The Beholden, it is set in the past, with rules and tradition very new, authentic but foreign so it takes more time for me to picture and I can easily be wrong about the pictures you have on your mind, due to me not being a native English speaker, mainly. In Phoenix Rising, I can relate to Baekhyun's character A LOT. I feel like Baekhyun and I are experiencing this journey together, with his denial, self-loathe, eagerness to please everyone, which is sadly impossible.Basically, Phoenix Rising is very close to home and I hold it very dearly. Nevertheless, everyone can see that you have matured throughout the years and it can be seen in your writing in The Beholden. We can also see that the amount of effort you spent in The Beholden is greater as you bring all these fictional place, tradition, terms etc out of your head which is a feat not everyone can achieve. All in all, I can say that these stories you made, including the Middle of December, are excellent. Hope you will keep writing for a long time because I know, what you have is a rare talent and I would be happy to read your future fics (preferably with Chanbaek as the main characters, lolz).

I've read both of them! c: Honestly, as a reader, both stories have very different tones and moods that makes them unique. And I really enjoyed (& I am still enjoying TB lol) both of them. I remember really admiring your writing style back in PR. Your sentences flowed very smoothly and every scene played a contribution to the overall story. Over these four years your descriptions have improved, but I think they were really well produced back in PR too! As for the characters, I remember being able to really empathize with Baekhyun. He was so raw and real, very human. And I absolutely admired that. Not many writers know how to deliver such an authentic character. It felt like I personally knew him as if I had the chance of passing by him at a public place. For me, it's the characters that really make the experience worth while. The same goes for TB, except this time around I felt a stronger connection to Chanyeol. I feel as though he represents the good in humanity, while the whole kingdom represents the needs of society, the "evil" per say. Basically what I am trying to say is that in both of these stories, you did a beautiful job of bringing out controversial topics along with a cast that was able to pull on my heartstrings. The context of both stories is impeccable. So to sum up my messy mind, I say that the quality of both stories was/is spot on. You're writing style has improved in TB, but that doesn't mean PR was any less professional. c: