#about gay men in ancient china idk

[me-a-nerd]

Anyway yeah, as you can see from my recent reblogs I’ve finished The Untamed. Shout out to my tumblr moot who is the only one who cares about this and also thank you for allowing me to have this in my life. It was gorgeous. I am now in despair. I need more

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

[extract: cao cao is bisexual dot jpeg] “Ah, Cao Mengde is here!” Dong Zhuo exclaimed, “son, this is the promising young fellow I was telling you about.” 

“Oh, so this is he?” Lu Bu murmured, making a show of looking him over. He stalked a languid circle around Cao Cao, his fingers tapping leisurely on the jewelled pommel of his sword. He wore soft-toed riding boots, and his gait was unnervingly quiet, reminiscent of a leopard Cao Cao had seen once in a menagerie. All that coiled, deadly strength, trapped in a too-small cage. His voice, likewise was a low, throaty, growl as he remarked lazily, “the honour is mine, to be sure.” 

“Tales of your valor echo far and wide, General Fengxian,” Cao Cao made a show of being star-struck—not that he needed to try particularly hard. Call it a foible, but he found handsome, arrogant men as impressive as they were annoying. “As the saying goes; ‘amongst men, Lu Bu has no equal. Amongst horses, Red Hare.’” 

Lu Bu preened “so they’ve been talking about me behind my back, have they?” 

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it!” Cao Cao enthused. Greedy Back-stabber, Wandering Demon, Bastard-with-three-fathers —and those were some of the more pleasant ones. ---------- notes: - main inspiration for this was sima qian's writing. ancient china had this very matter-of-fact, almost refreshingly non-judgemental attitude towards homosexuality and/or male-male sexuality. and idk. i guess it's nice knowing history isn't about linear progress, different time periods can surprise you. - it's kind of refreshing to read stuff like "yeah so the court came togather and brutally assassinated the emperor's male lover. not bc we're homophobic btw (most of us have tried to dress like the guy just to get the emperor's attention), but it was bc he was amassing too much political influence" - diversity win! i guess! - my characterisation isn't so much as "who is gay/bisexual" but rather "this is the han dynasty, guys, and we're spending 80% of our time in the army. who amongst us HASN'T had a homoerotic experience?"

[rainbowsky]

I know that in the statement it says that the rumours spread are harmful to DD, but I cant help but itch a bit... Sometimes it's fairly common in the industry for their own teams to spread some fake info, just so they can give this statement and remind everyone of "how straight DD is", yknow what I mean? Like, "look, our artist could be dating a woman, HE IS NOT BTW, JUST SO YOU KNOW, but he could". Idk, man... I'm always 👀 regarding these. It helps to protect DD's closet in a way. What do you think? It's like they give him beards without him having to do much.

Absolutely not.

DD is young and a huge portion of his fans are ‘boyfriend fantasy’ fans - fans who fantasize about him one day being their boyfriend.

In China any dating rumor can kill someone’s career, as fans buy heavily into the fantasy of romantic availability.

Dating rumors are constantly used against DD as anti attacks on him for that reason.

Statements of denial, however necessary they are, actually often stoke the rumors up even more as people dig into why the statement was released.

Straight dating rumors are considerably more dangerous to DD than gay ones, because most people dismiss gay ones without even glancing at the rationale for them.

There’s no planet on which his team is going to plant straight dating rumors that could destroy his career just to hide a gay relationship most people think is about ancient fan service for a long-ago-aired drama and delusional fans who won’t let go.

In a heteronormative society where most people aren’t out and in fact, where 80% of gay men end up marrying straight women, there’s no need to provide cover for someone being gay. Everyone assumes that people are straight. This is doubly true for an idol like DD, who is into sports and motorcycles and things like that. Most heteronormative people associate ‘masculine’ things with straight men.

[strangeandforlornbooks]

best books with morally ambiguous narrators!

all y’all’s problematic faves and villains! :) also included are third person narrators but in books with morally ambiguous leads/themes 

Sci-fi

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: in a future free from pain, disease, and war, people can live forever. ‘scythes’ are given the power to decide who lives and who dies to preserve the balance. sad and kinda gives of hunger games vibes, if you like that.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: basically invented the cyberpunk genre. strange and removed protagonists. (a team of computer hackers have to face off against an evil AI). you kind of dislike everyone and suddenly you’re crying over them. one of those trippy sci-fi classics.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: very beautiful and very very sad (same author as slaughterhouse five). the richest man in america has to face a martian invasion. more about free will and bad people doing good things than a plot that makes any kind of sense.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick: set in an alternate universe where the germans and japanese won world war two. not really like the tv show at all- it’s not an action story, and there’s not really the hope to somehow fix the world that drives a lot of dystopia stories. instead its about how people survive and connect to one another in a hopeless society.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: a supercomputer convinces the leaders of the world to keep the peace for hundreds of years by taking their children hostage and obliterating any city that disobeys. what happens to the hostage protagonists when war seems inevitable? lots of morally fraught decisions and characters slowly losing their identity. (plus a fun lesbian romance)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: a brilliant mathematician and a dedicated marine fight to keep the ultra secret in world war two. fifty years later,  a tech company discovers what remains of their story. one of the most memorable sequences in the book is a japanese soldier slowly becoming disillusioned with his nation and horrified by the war even as he continues to fight.

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick: another one of those sci-fi classics that’s not at all like the movie. there is a bounty hunter for robots, though, as well as a weird religion that probably is referencing catholicism and a decaying society with a shortage of pets. kind of a trip.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power: girls trapped in a boarding school on an isolated island must face a creeping rot that affects the animals and plants on the island as well as their own bodies. the protagonists will do anything to survive and keep each other safe. very tense (and bonus lesbian romance whoo)

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin: three women are gifted with the ability to control the earth’s energy in a world where those who can do so are forced into hiding or slavery. some veryyyy dark choices here but lots of strong female characters.

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: two victorian lesbians fall in love as they plot to betray each other in horrific ways. lots of plot twists, plucky thieves, gothic settings, and a great romance.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiwicz: a powerful roman soldier in the time of Nero plots to kidnap a young woman after he falls in love with her, only to learn more about the mysterious christian religion she follows. very melodramatic but some terrific prose. 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: a blind girl in France and a brilliant German boy recruited by the military struggle through the chaos of the second world war. ends with a bang (iykyk.) very sad, reads like poetry.

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang: graphic novel reveals the story of a young boy fighting in the boxer rebellion in early twentieth century china. the sequel, saints, is also excellent. beautifully and sympathetically shows the protagonist’s descent into evil- the reader really understands each step along the way.

Fantasy

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: three triplets separated at birth, each with their own magical powers, have to fight to the death to gain the throne. lots of fun honestly

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: everyone in these books is highly problematic but you love them all anyway. a ragtag game of criminals plan a heist on a magical fortress. some terrific tragic back stories, repressed feelings, and revenge schemes.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: idk how to describe these frankly but if you can put up with King’s appalling writing of female characters they’re pretty interesting. fantasy epic about saving the world/universe, sort of. cowboys and prophecies and overlapping dimensions and drug addicts galore.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: lots of fun! a twelve year old decides to summon a demon for his cute lil revenge scheme. sarcastic demon narrator. lighthearted until s*** gets real suddenly.

Elegy and Swansong by Vale Aida: fantasy epic with machiavellian lesbians and enemies to lovers to enemies to ??? to lovers. charming and exciting and lovely characters.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: an orphan boy must compete with a few others for the chance to impersonate a dead prince. really dark but very tense and exciting and good twists.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: fantasy epic. heroes overthrow an evil empire and then struggle as the revolution dissolves into warring factions. interesting world building and three dimensional characters, even if they only have a small part.

Circe by Madeline Miller: the story behind the witch who turns men into pigs in the odyssey. madeline miller really said, i just used my classics degree to write a beautiful gay love story and now im going to write a powerful feminist retelling because i can. queen. an amazing and satisfying book that kills me a lil bit because of the two lines referencing the song of achilles.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: the tragic backstory for the queen of hearts in alice in wonderland. a little predictable but very fun with a compelling protagonist

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin: ok I know we all hate GRRM and rightfully so but admittedly these books do have some great characters and great scenes. they deserve better than GRRM though. also he will probably never finish the books anyway....

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: not really fantasy but not really anything else either. plucky, intelligent, and kind children fight off evil plots for thirteen books until suddenly you realize the world is not nearly as black and white as you thought. 

Classics

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: gothic romance!! a new wife is curious about the mysterious death of her predecessor in a creepy old house in the British countryside...good twists and lovely prose.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles: not really morally ambiguous but one awful decision suddenly has awful consequences and certain people are haunted by guilt forever.... really really really beautiful and really really really sad. boys in a boarding school grow up together under the shadow of world war two.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: while imperial russia slowly decays a beautiful young woman begins a destructive affair. a long book. very russian. the ending is incredibly tense and well written.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I think you know the plot to this one. the prose is better than you remember and the last scene is always exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: one by one, the guests on an island are slowly picked off. one of Christie’s darkest mysteries- no happy ending here! very tense and great twists.

Contemporary

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: inspired the whole dark academia aesthetic. college students get a little too into ancient greece and it does not end very well. lovely prose but I found the characters unlikable.

Honorable Mentions

The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford: has literally a billion protagonists, but some of them are morally ambiguous ig? follows a few families stories’ from the 400s ad to irish independence in the 20s. beautifully captures the weight and movement of irish history.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: how morally ambiguous can you be if you’re, like, eleven? a lot if you’re a criminal genius who wants to kidnap a fairy for your evil-ish plan apparently!

Redemption by Leon Uris: literally my favorite novel ever. the sequel to Trinity but can stand alone. various irish families struggle through the horrors of world war one. the hero isn’t really morally ambiguous, but the main theme of the novel is extremely bad people suddenly questioning their choices and eventually redeeming themselves. sweeping themes of love, screwed up families, redemption, and patriotism.

The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett: heroes redeem themselves/try to get rich/try to save their country in early renaissance Europe. if I actually knew what happened in these books I'm sure it would be morally ambiguous but its too confusing for me. in each book you spend at least a third convinced the protagonist is evil, though. lots of exciting sword fights, tragic romances, plot twists, and kicking english butt.

Bonus: Protagonist is less morally ambiguous and more very screwed up and sad all the time

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: you know this one bc its quoted in all those quote compilations. basically the story of how one horrible event traumatizes a young man and how he develops a connection to a painting. really really really good.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: hard to describe but strange... not an action novel or a dystopia really but sort of along those lines. very hopeless.