Some Of My Favorite Characters To Experience Are Those That Wield Themselves Like Weapons For Someone

Some of my favorite characters to experience are those that wield themselves like weapons for someone else, for the simple reason that someone was warm and kind to them when the world hasn’t been.

Characters that are not malicious but can be cruel in their practicality. Characters that will make not the morally right choice but the smart choice, except when it comes to that person. Characters that aren’t kind but work to be just for and to that one person that was kind to them. Characters that wouldn’t care but are made to because that person does. Characters that are unmovable and don’t let themselves be swayed by anything except for the one person they let sway them. Characters that made someone their whole world because they trust in their kindness more than the world’s cruelty. Characters that are quiet and unobtrusive but steadfast like nothing else in their loyalty. That don’t, and will never, need recognition or acknowledgment as long as they are useful and that person is happy.

You know. Those kinds of characters.

Ooh this looks like an excellent companion to Geng Song's Televising Chineseness: Gender, Nation, and Subjectivity and Jamie Zhao's edited volume Queer TV China: Televisual and Fannish Imaginaries of Gender, Sexuality, and Chineseness.

The few chapters both books had on MDZS/The Untamed made me want to read a dedicated volume on the IP and here we are. A Christmas present to myself from myself 🙌🏼

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)

BL DRAMA NO SHUEN NI NARIMASHITA: CRANK UP HEN (2023) | EP 1

currently maybe possibly single-handedly crashing whatever servers eton hosts its archived student newspapers on because me and a friend are getting obsessed with a single outspoken prefect from 1883

This is exactly how her strange brain works and I love her for it!

Yes, get the most out of that assault charge right in front of the police! And the look on Ji-wook's face!

Thank you, jiejie.