#gay treasure island

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: 'Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix'

Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee

adventure

Asian fantasy

LGBTQIA

lesbian characters

mythology

pirates

queer books

romance

swashbuckling

ya fiction

My Review: 5 of 5 stars

At the farthest edge of what the westerners have historically branded "the opening of China," two young women discover the unmapped intersection of youth's uncultivated curiosity and the desperate proclivities of a dawdling adulthood. A CLASH OF STEEL begins painfully slow, but once all of the rightful pieces are in place, the novel's momentum churns forward with such unrelenting power that no amount of dramatic irony can outrun the book's satisfying conclusion.

Xiang's wistful gaze, from the rough mountains beyond her tiny river village, spy a curtain of distant ports and a mixed and matched fleet of merchant vessels. She lives in modest comfort, yes; and she has wont of little beyond the approval of her regularly absent mother, certainly; but what Xiang desires most is more. That is to say, the girl desires to stride the deck of a sea-worthy vessel, to taste and smell the vastness of a mercantile city a thousand times the size of her home tea shop, hear the myriad languages spoken by the myriad folks who sail the world's distant oceans. Xiang is an avid reader, but she wants to do more than read about adventure, she wants to experience it for herself (Xiang: "[W]ould I be satisfied merely listening to travelers' stories now that I've had a taste of the world?" page 273).

A chance trip to Canton, to visit her mother's center of business, enlightens Xiang to the possibility that she was born for more than being scolded by her tutor on lazy afternoons. Bandits running through alleys. Pirates and smugglers skulking the bay. Corrupt government officials absorbing bribes day-in and day-out. Trade for salt, fish, and more, are heavily tracked and regulated, but between the seams, the people of Canton, ephemeral, drift from one glimmering opportunity to the next, danger be damned.

The novel's opening act pivots grudgingly around the main character's misgivings for her simple, rural life, whereas the quickened pace of the book's later events makes for an effective contrast: life around narrow rivers and rice terraces versus life in the smoke-filled streets of a loud port city; life at a rural tea house with few visitors versus life among the raucous fools scratching for coin aboard patchwork ships. One has sympathy for readers who never made it past the first 80 pages.

A CLASH OF STEEL doesn't hit its pace until Xiang wields such opportunity by tagging along with her first new friend in ages, a pirate girl named Anh. Warm, brown skin. Wild hair. Talkative. Fearless.

Xiang's connection with Anh flares bright and hot, almost immediately, and the young woman is both enthralled and fearful of what that means. A CLASH OF STEEL nurtures and frames and scolds and builds back up Xiang and Anh's fledgling relationship, revealing, to those not previously aware, the author's skill in crafting queer characters worth believing in is nothing to worry about.

The lure of riches notwithstanding, boarding the Huyền Vũ and making for an island chain and a hidden hoard are the least of Xiang's troubles. After all, seeking to mend a fractured mother-daughter relationship by running away from home and pursuing a decades-old folktale thanks to an ancient, family relic? If that's not adventure, then what is?

A CLASH OF STEEL is a fun read for several reasons. Some such reasons pair well with the novel's reflection upon a long-eroded Age of Exploration. Others more to do with the book's structural arrangement and clever narrative positioning. What is the relationship between humanity and nature? What is humanity's relationship to itself when assimilation is believed inevitable? Why is the bond between government and the individual so heavily strained (stained) by greed? Relatedly, if there is no room for good people to conduct legitimate business, then does that mean freedom is only guaranteed through means of illegitimate business? (Xiang: "Who is more the thief: the government that preys on its people, or those who must become thieves in order to survive?" page 241)

Xiang stumbles into these questions and more while slowly transitioning from pampered countryside waif into a scraggly but sprightly shipmate with salt in her hair and a few splinters in her heels. The girl soon learns that an adventurous life is equally sought and earned.

Xiang's greatest education comes not from her trusted tutor, Master Feng Zhanli, who loves her like a daughter and protects her from the wrath of the girl's absent mother. Instead, Xiang learns kindness from the garrulous Captain Hoa Ngọc Hạnh; she learns steadfastness from shipmate Maheer, gentle and devout but indiscriminating; and she learns feminine ferocity from Ling Shan, a former courtier in the Forbidden City, who is now a skilled swordfighter whose tongue is a pit of vipers.

The book builds its tale of the modern imaginary on this foundation of furtive exploration. Readers of fairytales and folklore will recognize the author's exquisite use of a call to purpose, a lure from the quotidian, the foreshadowing of disappointment, the shifting standard for filial piety, and the introduction and subsequent destruction of a source of intrepid enlightenment. Tales of legendary pirate commanders? Stories about playful and distant relatives who only tease their benevolence? A CLASH OF STEEL is about leaving home on a treasure hunt, but it is also about unburying friendship and camaraderie from the embers of a discomfited life nobody truly asked for (Xiang: "I'm tired of others deciding my story for me," page 352).

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[fairweathermyth]

Christ! I know you can’t hear me, but I only did what you wanted me to. Christ! I’d sell out the nation, for I have been saddled with the murder of you.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR dir. Norman Jewison, 1973

[sunnysatyr]

I don't know if it's the hotel lighting or the beach weather, but the Canary Islands are doing us GOOD.

[batwynn]

Because we’re good.

(A patron request)

[elliottswaterlilies]

𝐈'𝐌 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄.

[zehl0w]

"And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show 'em what you're made of, Well…. I hope I'm there. catchin' some of the light comin' off you that day"

Happy 20th birthday to my absolute favorite move of all time!!!!! My only regret in life is that I wasn’t born early enough to see Treasure Planet in theaters I can’t imagine how much of a changed woman I would be if I experienced it on the big screen. This movie is so very important to me and has consistently been in my number one spot since childhood it never fails to make me cry my eyes out no matter how many times I’ve watched it. I think as a fatherless child this movie is what sparked my complete love and adoration for found family troupes and child care animes LMAOO

If u haven’t seen treasure planet wtf is wrong with you!!!!!!! Go watch it rn!!!!!!!!! Genuine perfect fiction the whole movie is astounding (except Ben fuck you ben I hate you)

[tragonn]

nate stetson, treasure island media

[fisheito]

Lol angst ? about nukani , my super unserious gayporngacha game? Can't be that bad

(10k words later into a fic) Ooohh.ohhh it was a mistake. I should not have read this hahahahahahahgyrk *choking sounds*

[scythevampire]

Got Treasure Island brainrot rn so here’s a drawing of George Merry and Fionn :)

[boatmediatourney]

i know the pirate fandom is a little raw right now but i got the idea in the shower to start a new tournament for the best boat media

my ideas so far (and feel free to suggest more!) are as follows:

1899

Black Sails

Hornblower 

Master and Commander

Muppet Treasure Island

Our Flag Means Death

Pirates of the Caribbean 

The North Water

The Terror

Titanic 

Treasure Planet

[tautechart]

Dr. Livesy, from the Soviet Treasure Island movie.

Originally posted on Twitter on September 4th 2022

[aravinus]

OUR FLAG MEANS TREASURE ISLAND

I made my first peice of fanart ever !!!! I haven’t ever really done digital art so the learning curve was INSANE. But here is my boy Izzy and my boy Long John Silver (Tim Curry) from Treasure Island!

It’s for my upcoming fic that I will soon write a little intro about !!!

[sunnysatyr]

Trying to look sexy and somewhat succeeding, I guess?

To be honest, these dunes were fucken wimdy, but at least we weren't in the middle of a heat wave. Missing those days so much, even if all of it happened last weekend.

[huntertheegg]

This is for sure the best commission I have ever bought in my life! The art is from jouken1douji on insta, follow him please, his art is just amazing

[dollietoon]

Treasure Island God AU

Basically I'm so insane i found a way to cram Felix in there and have it relate to me (Oswald) anywayz more info will come out with Felix ref but for now thiz iz all!!!