Translations of “The Author Has Something to Say” commentaries
Translator: These were written by the author beneath each chapter of the 2015 online release. That’s why they often mention what she “plans” or “will do”—ideas later incorporated into the version you’re reading. They respond to fans’ concerns about changes in the 2015 Eternal edition compared to the 2008 Sacred Traces edition. Think of them as fun trivia and glimpses into the author’s creative process.
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Chapter 1-1: The Devil in a Suit
Author: Wishing everyone a happy Lantern Festival!
The art above was drawn by the amazing Heiseijinyao 黑色禁药 (Translator: famous artist whose name means “Black Forbidden Medicine”) (Squishy Jinyao: …). It’s a chibi version of a RWoG character— and that little kid holding a smoking pipe – That’s the baby young master who was mentioned in this chapter! He’ll be one of the male leads in Volume II!
Tuanzi (fan group): Why not just call him Mammon as is?
Author: …Can we please keep a bit of mystery for new readers…
Tuanzi: The picture literally says “Character: Mammon.”
Author: …Does this image look familiar to anyone? That’s because it’s my author avatar! Yes, this same little demon lord! (Crowd: Still trying to keep it mysterious… |||) He’s one of my favorite characters! My current pillow is also this chibi version. =3=
Next up is Yang Lu, drawn by the talented Miss Gao Shan: Translator was unable to find this particular fan art that the author mentioned 🙁
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I-2: The Gates of Heaven
Author: This chapter got a few pieces of foreshadowing (Translator: compared to the original ‘08 version of the novel). There were still some bugs in the ‘10 version, which I’ve now fixed, and I made a few adjustments to better connect it with the prologue.
Since starting the novel with pages of background material and angelic hierarchy explanations would probably make readers dizzy, I deleted those long sections and will instead weave the explanations in gradually later on.
Here’s Lucifer at the moment of his Fall, drawn by Heiseijinyao sama;
and here’s Li Bin, illustrated by the talented Gao Shan (Translator unable to find the original art) .
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1-3: The Seraph in the Mirror (1)
Author: Originally, Raphael’s hair was rose-red, but I wanted Michael to be the only redhead in Heaven. That way, when all the angels stand together, his red would shine like a single spark of color amid a sea of gold—so I changed Raphael’s hair to blond.
There weren’t many scenes involving dragons in the main plot of The Right Wing of God, so I decided to remove their introduction. I plan to make dragons the main mounts of the demon race instead.
The scene where little Isar yells at Raphael felt a bit too bloody-minded. I wanted him to be a bit of a dummy, but not completely unhinged, so I changed it to him banging his head instead. (This trait will come up again later…) Also, I changed “Lucifer’s Kiss” to “Lucifer’s Grace,” since the former sounded more like something from the Demon Realm—I’ll save that for Lucifer’s fan club down there. In Heaven, it should sound holier.
Heaven will be written as very sacred and conservative, to contrast sharply with the corruption of the Demon Realm. So in Heaven, Metatron will count as the “corrupt party,” while Lucifer is the “rebellious one.”
The storyline of Divine Punishment (volume I) in this version won’t be cut, but I’ll compress the word count to around 160–180k characters. The original had 215k, but it was too wordy and some descriptions dragged on. So this version’s total length should be around 500k characters. I’ll trim the prose, but add some new plotlines—trying to tell more story with fewer words. XD
PS: Does anyone feel I talk too much in the author’s notes? Readers used to ask things like “Why did you change this?” or “You shouldn’t have changed that!” and not everyone sees my replies, so I started writing these editing logs…
Below is a picture of Isar looking into a mirror—artist unknown. If anyone knows who drew it, please tell me so I can credit them. [Translator: I was unable to find this piece of art :(] When I first wrote the story, Isar had blond hair, even in his transformed form, so this must be one of the older illustrations. =3=
And finally, here’s handsome Michael, drawn by Meaty Jinyao (Heisejinyao) —I’m using it as the cover! =)
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1-3: The Seraph in the Mirror (2)
Author: The descriptions of Jerusalem and its surrounding scenery have been made a bit more detailed.
I deleted the shopping scene with Mei, the pointless chatter with Caro, and the meaningless “Fiery Pit” of background info—all of that will be explained gradually later. Let’s get straight to the main story.
Also, in the original draft, Caro didn’t know who Michael was, but later it’s mentioned that Michael was already famous in Heaven since birth, meaning Caro’s ignorance wouldn’t have made sense, so I fixed it.
I’ve also added some foreshadowing about Michael kneeling to beg for the role of Favored Angel…
By the way, last night I had a dream, I dreamed of Lucifer’s new entrance! It was way more dramatic and mysterious than in the older version… unfortunately, I woke up and couldn’t remember any of it, except that it somehow involved Farthead. Ugh, give me my dream back~~…
The illustration of Ruciel drawn by fleshy Jinyao, though I personally think he looks more like the directly shrunken down version of Lucifer…
Note: The relationship between Rucifel and Lucifer in this story differs somewhat from that described in the Book of Genesis (Translator: yes, that Book of Genesis). Please keep reading to find out how.
———A Brief Statement About the Revisions———
Author: Reading everyone’s complaints, I finally feel… well, awkward. Is “fewer words, more story” really that hard to understand?
Let’s take the simplest example.
Original (‘08):
I woke up because the sunlight was too bright. It felt just like lying on a lawn in summer, sleeping directly under the sun. Then, when I opened my eyes, I saw a distant roof. The roof was beige, carved with delicate patterns I couldn’t quite make out—too far away, probably a few hundred meters. But from where I was, I could tell it was a pointed roof, likely another Gothic castle. I realized I was lying in a cloud, something soft supporting my body—so soft I couldn’t even tell what it was.
Revised (‘15):
Sunlight forced my eyes open.
Carved patterns adorned the beige ceiling, slightly blurred by the few hundred meters of distance. All I could tell was that it was a Gothic spire, part of a castle or something along the lines of.
Same meaning, almost half the words gone. So why not keep it shorter?
Here’s another:
Original:
Mei’s family wasn’t well-off, so she always longed for material things. Seeing her wear cheap clothes, I couldn’t bear it and bought her an expensive coat worth several thousand yuan. She wasn’t pleased, and said next time I should just go shopping with her instead—she didn’t like what I picked. I agreed, and she dragged me to the underground mall from morning till night, buying a dozen things in a spree. Later I realized many women share this pattern: they don’t love beautiful clothes, they love the feeling of changing into something new. Just like changing boyfriends.
Revised:
Entirely deleted. Since Mei is just a side character, there’s no need to describe her backstory in such detail.
Many of you stuck with the old version of the novel because character development and emotional writing are my strengths, and The Right Wing of God was full of unforgettable melodrama (…). But no one likes a novel stuffed with the author’s random musings and filler. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what plagued The Right Wing of God (Translator: referring to the original, ‘08 version). Passages like the one above appeared everywhere, almost every chapter had several. So while in other works, cutting one-sixth of the text might be hard, for RWoG, it’s a piece of cake.
As for the feedback saying the new version doesn’t feel as “light” as before—honestly, that’s probably because many of you already know what’s coming. It’s impossible to feel carefree when you’re subconsciously anticipating all the later content.
While writing, I still keep a cheerful undertone, just not the same over-the-top humor as before. I realized this after reading another story recently. It was a full-on comedy but mixed in heavy emotional scenes. The tonal control wasn’t great: one paragraph would say, “MOFO what the hell is this, hey world come watch!!!”—and just two paragraphs later, “If the past is as deep as time itself, then this man…” The result was emotional whiplash.
When revising, I realized with embarrassment that The Right Wing of God had this problem even worse. So to maintain a consistent tone, even the lighter moments will now be written in a calm, steady voice. Otherwise, those sudden melodramatic drops could really throw readers off.
In short: please trust that I can make the new version good. Your trust is the greatest motivation for me to keep going. 🙂
PS: If you have feedback, please do share it, but avoid comparing it to the old version directly. It’s hard to be objective that way. =3=
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1-4: Morning Star of Glory (1)
Author: I made some adjustments to the foreshadowing regarding the speculation about Lucifer’s relationship with Yang Lu.
Removed a few meaningless books from the bookstore scene.
Deleted the section where Li Bin speculates about Lucifer’s wings. Even though everyone knows Lucifer is a fallen angel, in many games he’s portrayed as a monster—so having skeletal wings really isn’t that strange.
Gave Li Bin a bit of a crush on Gabriel. He’s straight, after all, and should be more tolerant toward women—especially beautiful ones. No matter what they do, he’d forgive them.
Changed Metatron’s hair color from “light brown” to “honey,” which is quite similar but a bit brighter.
Removed the part about the actor being required to have four wings.
……
Originally, little Lu only showed a gloved hand around the 30,000-word mark and didn’t officially appear until nearly 50,000. Now, he’s been moved up, and I plan to add more interaction scenes between him and Michael. Hehe.
PS: For new readers following this story—honestly, I don’t recommend reading the old version. It’s so chaotic even I can’t tell where the plot was going… |||
Gabriel’s Tarot card illustrated by YOKA:
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1-4: Morning Star of Glory (2)
Author: The earlier version of the scene where little Isar acts was confusing to many readers, so I did a full rewrite and added a bit of backstory between Metatron and Iophiel.
Lil Isar continues to have feelings for Gabriel.
Originally, Isar was supposed to refuse to go to Shima, but considering that in Jerusalem he’d be surrounded by Powers, it wouldn’t make sense for him to refuse, no matter how he feels about Raphael. So now, he doesn’t refuse.
Added a private conversation between Iophiel and Isar.
Since Isar and his group are supposed to go directly to the residential district, the reactions of other angels who “saw” him there created a plot hole, so that part was removed.
Expanded the description of the angelic hierarchy in Shima.
Added detailed descriptions of the exterior of Divine Law Academy.
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From now on, I plan to include all revision logs together at the end of each full chapter. The editor has started urging me to speed things up with The Right Wing of God, so I’ll be writing and revising faster!
Raphael Tarot card (unrevised red-haired version), illustrated by YOKA:
Author: A fan of TLZY & JZYZ
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