Danmei and Chinese Novels :) discussion
Questions about tropes and trigger warnings
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I wanted to ask about a few upcoming danmei series that I was considering pre-ordering. In the past I’ve unfortunately spent time and money on danmei that ended up having content that I don’t personally enjoy. Since these books are so expensive and I only have so much time to read, I’d like to avoid that happening again in the future. Once again, no judgement whatsoever towards anyone who enjoys these things. I personally just do not enjoy them and would prefer to avoid them if possible.
So, with that said, I was hoping that someone could tell me whether any of these upcoming releases contain non-con or have a yandere character as one of the mains. If the series has either of these things could you please elaborate, with as few spoilers as possible, so that I can decide whether the series sounds like something that I might enjoy. Please let me know if the non-con happens between the main characters, whether the depiction is graphic, if it’s just part of a character’s past/backstory, etc.
As far as yandere characters go, I’m someone who personally really didn’t like Luo Binghe (SVSSS), for example. I apologize if anyone else here is a fan. It’s great if you like him, I just don’t personally. On the other hand, I don’t mind characters like Yan Wushi (Thousand Autumns). I don’t know if you’d really consider Yan Wushi yandere, but he is certainly very morally grey and treats Shen Qiao very questionably at certain points.
Anyway, the series that I wanted to know about are:
-After the Disabled War God Became My Concubine
-Art Thou Ailing
-The Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know
-Mistakenly Saving the Villain
-My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin
-Nanchan
-Silent Reading
-The Villain’s White Halo
-The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post
-The Wife Comes First
-There’s Something Wrong with the Chief
-Threes Hundred Years of Longing
-Thrice Married to a Salted Fish
-Twin Jades of Jiandong
Good idea with the thread! It'll be a nice place to ask about content when I have questions in the future ^_^The only one I've read on your list is Mistakenly Saving the Villain.
Now if I remember, between the MCs there is no non-con. I wouldn't call the love interest a yandere, but he is sweet to the MC (but like maturely sweet? not singe-minded devotion) and dangerous to others and his possessiveness is not Binghe levels.
The love interest has MAJOR trauma involving sexual abuse in his past. It don't remember it being a detailed account on page, but he went through so much, for so long, it's not something the book can ignore, plus the people that hurt him do pop up in the story. I would also say there are r*pe threats stated a few times throughout the book.
Sorry for not elaborating much as I don't have time for that:-Art Thou Ailing: I think this one is safe for you. No noncon, and no yanderes; the two play a game of mental chess, trying to one-up each other, they have some different goals in mind. They have a bit of that yanshen flair.
-Mistakenly Saving the Villain: a lot of noncon done to one of them in the past, I think if you're uncomfortable with that, it's not something I'd recommend reading. For me it was too much and they would bring it up every 2 sentences, so I eventually dropped it.
-Nanchan: there is dub/noncon between the mains, depends how we look at it, in the past, extremely vague, it was a "have intercourse or die" scenario, but it's not brushed off and the top later apologizes for it. Personally it didn't bother me but different people might react differently
-Silent Reading: no noncon no yandere
-The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post: I have very vague and distant memory of it but it had dubcon between the mains from what I remember............... but correct me if I'm wrong, the novel's shrouded in fog for me, not that memorable as nothing really happened it in it.............. sorry to the fans, no offense meant!
-The Wife Comes First: has noncon! has noncon! has noncon between the mains!!! Both in past life and in current life, after having supposedly "changed", the top once again r*pes the bottom, and it's even brushed off after the fact. Yandere too.
-There’s Something Wrong with the Chief: the mains' first time is very much dubcon from what I remember, considered noncon by some, I wasn't having a good time reading about their sex life, it was rather uncomfortable
-Twin Jades of Jiandong: nothing happens between them so there's no noncon obviously.
Thank you both for giving such detailed answers for the books that you’ve read! That’s very helpful and I really appreciate it! I think that I’ll probably steer clear of Mistakenly Saving the Villain, The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post, The Wife Comes First and There’s Something Wrong with the Chief.
Mod
I don´t have deal-breaker topics but there are triggers and tropes that I prefer to avoid when they are used in a way where the books almost present them as acceptable.
From this list I really recommend Art Thou Ailing! It's only 2 volumes so not much of a committment, and while it has a seemingly aimless start, it picks up pace about 1/4th in, and goes more in depth with the characters, their motivations and their backstories, and makes you curious how it will develop.But to add to the TW list, I know Silent Reading is a fan-favorite, but the case that's being investigated in the novel is heavy on (view spoiler) so I would also advise caution before going in if that's something triggering to you (it is to me).
I've only finished Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know from the list and I think no one commented about it yet. There's no non/dub con between main couple and despite ML being kind of obsessed with MC, he doesn't reminds me of LBH (I'm not 100% sure what yandere means but I think he's not). There are some unhinged things that happen to background charachters but nothing is in detail, so I guess this one is pretty safe.
With the Cat's Scratching Post cover reveal, I went to revisit the sex chapters to make sure, and I apologize for making a mistake in my previous post:This novel has both dubcon *and* noncon. There is actual r*pe in chapter 110, the bottom is saying no, and the top just pushes inside him, the bottom says it hurts, and the top disregards it. That kind of thing.
Thank you! I appreciate the update! It’s too bad because that is a really pretty cover but I personally just can’t really handle that type of content.
No non con and no yandere gong in After the Disabled War God Became My Concubine. The relationship between them is very healthy even though their world is a cruel one.
Sorry for double posting: Married Thrice to Salted Fish is similar in that regard (no yandere, no non con between the main couple), but there is an attempt of non-con towards the ML but not from the MC.
Thank you, NiaKantorka! I really appreciate the information! I’m glad to hear that those two are safe for me to read, especially Thrice Married to a Salted Fish. That’s one that I was particularly looking forward to. Also, thank you Monique for giving me an answer about The Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know! I really want to read that one too. Here’s hoping that Hai Tang gets their act together more with that release🤞
The noncon in There's Something wrong with the chief described in this post:https://www.reddit.com/r/DanmeiNovels...
A reminder to me that it was definitely noncon and not just dubcon
According to recent reviews of volume 1, there is noncon in My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin.
Mod
Thanks for the warning! There seem to be several reasons why I think I will pass on this. Sad, because I had actually thought that the premise sounded quite fun,
Thank you! I appreciate the warning. I’ll stay away from that one.
I have been trying to clearly understand the difference between wuxia, xianxia and xuanhuan. Does anyone have any tips or more explanations about them? For my understanding, Wuxia is martial art that might have some magic, but like simple. Xianxia is your average normal cultivator story, like qi, flying swords, reincarnation, and people can become immortals. And Xuanhuan is more supernatural, more high fantasy.
Mod
Sounds to me as if you understand the difference quite well. Isn´t there also reincarnation in xianxia? For example, I would think that "When Destiny Meets the Demon" is a xianxia drama...
Definitions are from novel updates (there are also other websites with definitions out there):Wuxia is fictional stories about mortal humans who can achieve superhuman ability through martial arts training or internal energy cultivation. Wuxia is usually depicted in an ancient China setting. Despite any existence of supernatural elements, characters in a wuxia are rarely depicted reaching over 150 years of age. No immortality.
Xianxia is fictional martial art stories where the main goal of the population is cultivating to Immortality, seeking eternal life and the pinnacle of strength.
Xianxia stories features supernatural elements, influenced heavily by Chinese folklore/mythology. Cultivation path in xianxia involves taoism/daoism elements. If the story doesn't mention the dao, odds are that it is not a Xianxia.
Similar to xianxia, xuanhuan may contain immortal cultivation. However, unlike xianxia, which is more focused on becoming immortal and tighter on chinese mythology, Xuanhuan is a broader, more loose genre. Basically, if it's a cultivation-based story, yet it contain elements of western fantasy, such as sci-fi, or magic that's not inherently eastern, then it is a xuanhuan.
Afaik they can all take place in the Jianghu (Rivers and Rivers, 江湖） which means than sects are involved.
Personally, I go with, one question: Are gods, immortal beings or folks who try to be immortal involved? Yes. Must be xianxia.
Mod
Nice to have them summarized 🌸
Guys, on the topic of TW-s, do you know other danmei novels like Erha that have a shitload of absolutely insane things going on? Obvious answers are the other 2 Meatbun works, I suppose. But something other than that?
Mod
"QuanMou is quite welcoming among Chinese, which is about scheming/ strategist play/ political, mostly during historical or costume settings. But this stuff mostly appear on drama "
Sofia wrote: "Guys, on the topic of TW-s, do you know other danmei novels like Erha that have a shitload of absolutely insane things going on? Obvious answers are the other 2 Meatbun works, I suppose. But someth..."I'm currently reading Desire, which is very different since it's modern omegaverse but you can say that there is a lot of absoultely insane things going on.
NiaKantorka wrote: "Definitions are from novel updates (there are also other websites with definitions out there):Wuxia is fictional stories about mortal humans who can achieve superhuman ability through martial art..."
Thank you so much for the explanation.
Monique wrote: "Sofia wrote: "Guys, on the topic of TW-s, do you know other danmei novels like Erha that have a shitload of absolutely insane things going on? Obvious answers are the other 2 Meatbun works, I suppo..."I suppose I could imagine insane things going on in an omegaverse read, haha. But what I am looking for is something absolutely heart-wrenching and so fuсkеd up that it leaves you broken for months. Like it could have rape and non-con, cannibalism, emotional and physical trauma, etc...
Mod
How are you liking the written version of "Desire"? I decided against reading it, because it seemed like the drama had toned down many of the problematic issues.
The drama gets away with some troubling issues around consent, because the actors soften the blow and the relationships are thereby made human. But it sounds as if the written version goes the whole hog!
Sollenbum wrote: "Monique wrote: "How are you liking the written version of "Desire"? I decided against reading it, because it seemed like the drama had toned down many of the problematic issues."To be honest, it's not that special. If I haven't watched series first, I'd probably dnf. But I'm enjoying it in a way to get more info about things that didn't made into drama (there's motor race that should totally be included, it was so good!! - maybe that photoshooting Huang Xing and Qiu Dingjie had in racers suits was inspired by this scene 😄 also, I'm sad we we didn't get Hua Yong giving Shaoyou massage 😏). The non/dub-con scenes are not explicit, so what we've seen in drama is basically exactly what's in the novel. But it's true I'm mostly enjoying because I'm imagining scenes from drama, while reading. If I haven't started watching drama first, I probaly couldn't stand Hua Yong's charachter because he's just too much of a crazy psychopath but Elliott is doing such a good job portraying him, that I don't mind it that much 😆
Mod
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That makes a lot of sense, Monique!
Actors can live in our brain even when they are not on screen. So reading the novel to fill out the blanks makes perfect sense.
That is how I read many classic novels in my earlier days, because I wanted to re-live the world that was created in a good film or drama. For example, I first watched BBC drama series and then read the classic novels.
I realize that it is possible to check the tags on novel updates for tropes and trigger warnings, but I don’t feel like that’s always the best way to judge a series. Some tagged content might not be that prevalent in one series but very heavy in another. Or it might be something that only takes place in the past or it isn’t something that happens between main characters. For some people, the degree or circumstances might make a huge difference but you can’t really gauge that nuance from tags on novel updates alone.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve had trouble in a lot of other danmei groups when asking about certain trigger warnings or tropes that I personally want to avoid. I always try to be as respectful as possible but it still seems to upset some people that others might not enjoy reading what they enjoy. Luckily, I’ve never had that problem with this group. Everyone here has always been very friendly and respectful. So, I thought that this could be a safe place to ask about these things in order to help fellow danmei fans make an informed decision about whether they want to read a series or not.
Please be respectful and understanding of others both with your questions and answers. Do not judge others for what they enjoy reading and likewise don’t judge anyone for what they dislike reading. We all have our own tastes and that is completely fine. This is fiction and it’s something we all enjoy reading for fun. Let’s keep it fun for everyone!