I Was Just Alerted To Another Review By My New Favorite Reviewer, Kali Wallace!

Regarding May 12 Dracula Daily / Re: Dracula,

SO! Cloaks do not “spread out like great wings” when you’re crawling face-down the side of a building UNLESS you have arranged some hooks or clips or some such to keep the cloak in place.

I wanna see Dracula getting annoyed at his cloak, which keeps falling over his head when he’s climbing downward head-first, Until he finally devises some method to attach the cloak to his wrist and waist / thighs / ankles, which cleverly keeps the cloak spread out on his back despite the best efforts of gravity.

Can anyone here draw? Or has anyone already done this? Please point me to the right place!

I have some Nordic heritage and this hit me right between the smile and the tears.

I drew a little something for the Hiveworks micro comic summer~

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Hiveworks Comics

It's time! Today is the day. Share the comic you've been working on all summer with the tag #MicroComicSummer

How would you lure someone into reading MXTX's novels beyond the usual "the main CP is this and that"? Cos for example, every time someone tells me to read MDZS, they mostly just say Wangxian is married and have a child and leave it at that, which isn't encouraging at all??? Sorry to bother you with this question. I love reading your responses though!

Hi there anon!~

I think pitching MXTX novels as purely “couple is so-and-so” is also a bit of a disservice, too! One of my favorite things about many danmei novels is indeed that they are very plot-heavy and contain lots of thought-provoking concepts. For the sake of this answer, I will limit it to MDZS since you gave that as an example.

For me, the most interesting thing about MDZS is not necessarily that “Wangxian are married and have a son” but the actual struggles that both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji endure in order to get to a point where they can be happy together. It takes one of them dying and coming back, plus the shattering of social complacency that occurs during the present timeline of the novel. And even then, that’s not even really the main focus of the novel, it’s more like a product of everything else that happens. Their history is also long and marred with anger, confusion, heartbreak, and understanding.

I have my own preferences of how I read Wei Wuxian, for example, that I think differs from other people’s. Same for how I like to interpret Wangxian. In an effort not to rock the boat, I’ll just say that I think Wangxian is a very compelling and interesting couple because they both put in work to make it work. I like thinking of how they are just very fundamentally different people, but do well together because they choose to.

But again, I think MXTX made a point also in not focusing too much on their relationship itself, but rather the plot and how/why it develops the way it does. She had something she wanted to say with this work, as she does with each one of her works. MDZS is first and foremost a murder-mystery with the background of a war story. It’s about the dangers of mob mentality, how fast the crowd will turn against you if you step out of line. It’s about how rocking the boat has far-reaching consequences, and how society often wants the easiest and cheapest way to morality. It’s about how the pressure to be perfect will shatter someone, yet the cracks may not show until it’s too late. How oppression can make both heroes, and monsters – and that sometimes, that distinction is simply a matter of who is telling the story.

(I also want to note that there’s also the one theme that MXTX seems to really favor, and is present in all 3 of her works: having one person on your side can be enough.)

These are all incredible concepts that I think are really worth reading the novel for. Not to mention, they are eternally relevant conversations to have. MDZS is a novel painted in gray, and deserves thoughtful consideration of such. (Of course, it can also just be a lot of fun!) Even how you view the main character is absolutely dependent on what perspective you want to see him through. This itself is really interesting and unique.

The way the novel ends, with a lot let unsaid – intentionally so – is bittersweet yet satisfying. Fascinating in the sense that yeah, not everyone gets a happy ending, but in a way that genuinely makes sense. (But if you’re worried, fear not, Wangxian do end up married and with a son, after all lol!)

Ultimately, these are adult novels, meant for an adult audience – and created as much for the purposes of having fun, as they are to be discussed and analyzed through a scholarly lens. So I definitely share your frustration in being pitched a novel purely on the couple, because YEAH I do care a lot about the couple (see: how I devote at least 80% of my brain power to thinking about Hualian kissing), but I also do want a story that is satisfying in more than just one way. I.e., is stratifying in both terms of its main couple’s relationship AND a fleshed-out plot line with lots of themes to analyze, because I like having fun in both of those ways!

I think even when we pitch other MXTX novels (or danmei novels in general), it’s helpful to do it the same way. To focus on what makes the novel great in its entirety, not just a small, reductive portion of it. Especially when it’s very clear that the author has so many things they’re trying to say with the work. However, I’ll end this here because this answer is getting so long lol! I hope this helped you out, anon, and maybe even sold you a little more on MDZS haha! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

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. 

Here is Part 6 of my annotations of First Edition MDZS, Volume 1, Appendix.

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼

Vol 2, Notes 3, pages 63 - 87

Another ten pages of notes!

Like I've posted before, Priest has more plot than I have reading comprehension, but, after a few rereads, I think I know what's going on.

In case you are in my same boat but you can't read my handwriting: Fu Zhicheng was originally a bandit, so the emperor at the time (the previous one) was worried (with good cause); but Fu Zhicheng was still given command because there was no other option at the time -- no one else was strong enough to hold the area.

土地公. Soil God. Local god.

I learn all my Chinese Mythology and Religion via trying to understand Priest novels.

静虚 Silent Empty. It's a very good name for a Daoist monk.

穿一条裤子 Wear one pair of pants. Isn't that super evocative? :)

And yet another place where I feel that the original paragraph break would have been very helpful for reader comprehension.

"Consolatory" = to console him on the loss of his mother.

It's the same poem referenced on page 54.

In the version I first read, the implication was that the wooden bird was there the entire time, and you only noticed it as it was flying away.

望穿秋水 look, penetrate, autumn water ( autumn water = "trad. description of girl's beautiful eyes" according to mdbg.net).

Nice way to describe looking at/for something really intently, yah?

Yet another sentence that was not in the (pirated) online version that I read. It doesn't really matter, I know, but I lived in that book for a year, so, well. It wasn't there before.

Another possibly different version, plus different ways to translate 冷笑 (if that is what was in the newer edit given to the translators).

In the version I read, there is no mention of facial expressions; Chang Geng just acts.

If Priest added a 冷笑 (I think that phrase has been used with Chang Geng before), then I would translate that as a Bitter Smile or a Cold Smile rather than as a sneer, since, in my head, only yucky villains sneer, and Chang Geng is a super elegant handsome symmetrical graceful mastermind who sadly but frequently lifts the corners of his mouth without any warmth reaching his eyes.

绊马索 trip horse rope.

Top:

男鬼 male ghost/monster/zombie (some type of supernatural being, derogatory)

...pulverizing the double layer of iron. Those mech-suits are Thick.

Bottom:

远在天边，近在眼前。 Far as the side of the sky, close as in front of the eyes. <3

And that's another ten! Just 44 more to go... :)

My DanMei Literary Adventure Masterpost

Stars of Chaos - All Notes Links

posting on twitter feels like throwing something you worked on for hours, days, weeks into a river, hoping it'll get swept out to sea for many people to experience, only for it to immediately crash into some rocks and explode. its gone now. if no one sees it in the 0.00003 seconds it exists on their timelines, no one ever will

posting on tumblr is like carefully placing your work in the middle of a dark abandoned factory, and slowly a bunch of weird little goblins manifest from the shadows and touch your work all over with their little raccoon hands and share it with each other. sometimes they find your thing again many years later and excitedly share it again

the weird goblins are much more enjoyable

https://youtu.be/clxAsAshb3E

Isn’t it awesome when your absolute favorite singer ever sings an absolutely sublime version of the theme song to one of your favorite tv shows ever, based on one of your favorite favorite books ever?

You have questions! We might have answers.

What is this collection?

As Maria puts it: this collection is a critical look at some of the things that we, the editors, think have made CQL such a hit around the world. Of course, part of that success comes from the webnovel MDZS and the show CQL themselves—we love the characters, the mystery, and the drama, who doesn’t?! However, the authors in our book also look at topics like translating danmei (both officially and unofficially), adapting danmei for new audiences, and interacting with fandoms and fanworks. The larger argument of the book is that all of these things played a huge role in CQL’s visibility and success, and we wanted to start making those moving pieces visible, especially for audiences who mainly watched CQL in translation.

You keep using the word “academic”—what does that mean, exactly? 

Maria: Ok, not to get pedantic here, but this actually touches on some things that I’m really excited about for the book. Traditionally, academic work is written by people who have a deep expertise in the subject (signified by having a PhD and doing specific kinds of research), and then the work itself is peer-reviewed (i.e., sent to other experts in the field for them to evaluate whether it’s sound, original, and interesting enough to publish, without knowing who wrote it). And both of these things are true about our book—our authors have deep knowledge and the book was peer reviewed—but also. We specifically asked for chapters from younger scholars and from fans who also have deep knowledge about topics that academia doesn’t always know or value enough, and we include an interview from the fan-translator K. who did the Exiled Rebels translation. So the hope is that: this book is academic, and also—more!

Who are you? 

Yue studies adaptation, fantasy, and popular culture texts using a feminist lens. She wrote an early, influential article about danmei adaptations and also has a book about feminist adaptations of Chinese fantasy.

Maria studies fanworks, contemporary fantasy, and genre literature. She’s scrambling to finish her dissertation right now.

How were the chapter spotlights chosen?

Voluntarily! The concept of a small social media promo was kicked around by some of the contributors and those interested in the idea filled out a short interview with what they wanted to share. We'll be posting about 2 introductions and 2 spotlights a day for the next week or so!

Are you making any money off of royalties from this book? 

LOL not even remotely

Where can I find this book? 

You can find our listing on Peter Lang’s website here. As for other retailers, a quick search should turn us up!  

How can I access this book if I cannot buy it from Peter Lang / [book retailer of choice]?

As collection editors and contributors who signed a legal agreement with Peter Lang, we have granted Peter Lang exclusive right and license to edit, adapt, publish, reproduce, distribute, display, and store our contributions, and we must cooperate fully with the Publisher if the Publisher believes a third party is infringing or is likely to infringe copyright in the contribution. 

That being said, these are academic papers, which means that contributors may make copies of the contribution for classroom teaching use! (These copies may not be included in course pack material for onward sale by libraries and institutions). Of course, any linking, collection or aggregation of chapters from the same volume is strictly prohibited.

(FAQ may be updated periodically!) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

The sweetest scene ever ❤️

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