I Recently Started Keeping A List Of All The Ways I Hear/read Chinese People Say "death / Dying". This

Wei Wuxian | Ep. 11

for @/the-lady-of-the-blue

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

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼

Vol 2, Notes 8/8, pages 370 - end

The story is progressing!!!

“muttered into... ear" in Chinese here is 咬耳朵道, "bite ear said." Totally lets you know where Gu Yun is when he's talking to Tan Hongfei, yah?

Chinese for the entire 长庚 quote: 可惜没有长花容月貌，掷果盈车的大帅不肯要。

花容月貌 - flower appearance moon appearance (it sounds good in Chinese, trust me)

掷果盈车 - throw fruit fill carriage. There was this famously beautiful man name 潘安 Pan An (247-300 AD) who was so famously beautiful that when women saw his carriage coming, they would link hands and slow it down just to get a peak at him, and then they would throw flowers and fruit at him in appreciation, so that by the time he got home, his carriage was full of fruit and flowers. Famous Chinese Beauties <3

启明 Qiming -- Pleco: "Classical Chinese name for planet Venus in the east before dawn"

混账. Pleco: Noun. Vulgar. "scoundrel; bastard; son of a bitch"

But you can't say the latter two to Chang Geng, and I don't want to talk about body parts like that between Gu Yun and Chang Geng, so I think we should all read this as "Unreasonable Impudent Scoundrel."

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed learning about heel ropes and pills of immortality and historically significant hotness with me. I learn huge amounts of (Chinese and) Chinese culture every time I pick up a Priest book, and I hope you all can enjoy it as much as I do.

My DanMei Literary Adventure Masterpost

Stars of Chaos - All Notes Links

when i watch old movies i’m constantly surprised by how much acting has improved. not that the acting in the classics is bad, it’s just often kind of artificial? it’s acting-y. it’s like stage acting.

it took some decades for the arts of acting and filmmaking to catch up to the potential that was in movies all along; stuff like microexpressions and silences and eyes, oh man people are SO much better at acting with their eyes than they were in the 40′s, or even the 70′s.

the performances we take for granted in adventure movies and comedies now would’ve blown the critics’ socks off in the days of ‘casablanca’.

Arg. Sorry that the Vol 4 and Vol 5 MDZS are taking so long to post notes on.

Since flying through two volumes of 2Ha in absolute awe of the gorgeous translation, I’m having the hardest time getting through even Vol 4 of MDZS. I spent days wondering how to better translate 乌合之众. I fumed for too long over the choice to use “why don’t you” as the translation for 不如 —- it’s not wrong, it’s just…

I wish that 7 Seas had chosen a more experienced team to translate. I’m glad that they got someone familiar with fandom, but a lot of these word choices are killing me.

It’s always affirming to discover that your obsession is an actual academic discipline.

Articles/books about Danmei (Chinese BL)

Hello!!! I made a folder for sharing articles and books about danmei and related topics

There's a lot of academic research into danmei, so I thought it'd be interesting to share to the western danmei fandom so people can know more about danmei's context and history!

I will be adding PDFs semi-regularly, but if anyone wants me to add any specific articles or books to the folder you can reply with the name and author, and I'll try my best !!

They're all really interesting, so if you want, check out the titles or abstracts to see if you'd be curious! 💕💕💕

(link in reblogged version! )

This scene killed me, quite unexpectedly.

Babe, I’m with you. Our Shining Days

So you saw the trailer and thought you come to The Lost Tomb Reboot to see them raiding tombs, fighting ghosts, killing monsters, exploding this exploding that...

Turns out you see two 40-ish dudes talking nonsense, waving fake lightsabers in a tomb (yeah, in a tomb, no less) 🙄 And in later episodes they’re gonna dance tango, sing karaoke and hula hoop, also in a tomb...

I’m sorry not sorry I set all the wrong expectation...

[Okay I’m kidding, they actually do raid tombs, kill monsters, explode things. But it isn’t my fault our main characters happen to be idiots... ( ･ᴗ･̥̥̥ )]