Quasirandom: Blog

When I posted “A Song of Lasting Regret,” I didn’t want to burden the end-notes with pedantic details. But I did kinda gloss over a couple interesting things.

The first being those ‘sly references’ to the historical Yang Yuhuan, titled Guifei (“precious consort”). Every comparison Bai Juyi made of the consort to jade is a pun on her name: the Yu of her personal name means jade. Thus, the phrase “jade cheek” could be read either “jade-like cheek” or “Jade’s cheek.” More directly, though, Great Purity was her religious name during her brief stint as a Daoist nun -- a biographical detail he otherwise ignored.

Also ignored is that historically the Emperor was her second husband -- her first was his son, an imperial prince. His father made her take vows by way of forcing a divorce that severed their family relationship, so he could suitably marry her himself (after an almost immediate defrocking, of course). Not that the son treated her much better: he married her when she was 14 -- not being legal to marry until 15 was one of many laws the imperial family could, and all too often did, flout with impunity. FWIW, chronicles disagree when exactly the emperor married her, but she was around 17.

History is such the fun.

For the record, this adaptation (loose in the beginning, growing more literal by the end) is based on my own reading of the original, made without consulting other translations, though I did refer to commentaries in modern Chinese -- of which there are many, given the poem is studied in schools and the archaic literary language is difficult for those not used to it. The existence of hapless high school students is very helpful for foreign language learners.

I’ve posted a short story, part of what will be a universe of xuanhuan (literally “mysterious fantasy”) tales of Chinese fantasy crossed with Western erotica. I can’t say I’m an expert in the genre, but I’ve been reading it for going on a decade now—most of my reading time is split equally between xuanhuan & wuxia (a genre more strictly limited to martial arts), English-language SFF, and erotica from sites like SOL. I even recently got involved with a fan-translation group. I’ve had a few original story ideas kicking around for a couple years, of which the first I’ve finished is “Brothers and Sisters Cultivating Together.”

(For the record, the title is pure trolling: there’s no incest whatsoever.)

If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, there are plenty of beginner’s guides out there, plus sites that track fan translations of webnovels (which I’m not linking as SOL quite reasonably disapproves of redirecting eyeballs to other sites). Guides are helpful, though, given there’s boatloads, as in like cargo-container-ships-full, of the stuff -- it’s a wildly popular genre that’s finally getting some recognition outside of the Sinosphere, thanks in part to TV dramas. My hope is that in my stories I explain the genre’s concepts and premises so that newcomers can follow -- while including all of Teh Sex that Chinese censors ban. I’d appreciate any feedback in this regard, or any other for that matter.

This is an open universe so feel free to add stories of your own, if it turns out to be your cup of tea.

I was not especially keyed into my high school’s social scene. I coasted through classes, played soccer during lunch, hung with friends at school and by myself outside of it. Most of my time, I read voraciously. It wasn’t till my last year that I noticed I’d experienced none of the iconic school experiences obsessed over by American popular culture -- so just to find out, I attended the last possible football game (we lost) and the last possible dance (the Prom), which was also my first date-date (and since I asked out my English teacher’s daughter, it was an entirely platonic date). IOW, not the most successful exploration ever.

Which is why I write about these sorts of things -- about kids who are the sort to go out with other kids, hang out together, go to dances or games, are in clubs or organized sports. I’m exploring the experience of being mainstream, of normcore. This is also why I write about kids who are, in one way or another, in the margins: queer, gifted, handicapped, polyamorous, abused -- exploring marginal experiences other than mine.

I write to tell myself stories and so learn about the world.

And of course, I write about teenagers because that transition period, from child to adult, is one of the most fundamental and dramatic most of us experience. Another kind of margin.

When I caught Covid this past March, the Reading Queue* of My Library had over 300 stories. This was Not Acceptable. I’m the sort who tries to keep my email inbox to no more than a screen. I rarely manage that, but I can at least deal with as much as two screens. Any more than that, though, and I feel scattered and pressured and anxious and yeah no that’s not gonna work. 300 TBRs is a total Yikes!

(* This is a Premium feature that’s well worth it, in addition to everything else you get. Support SOL, and get more!)

So during my recovery I set out to reduce that TBR pile, er, list: I sampled all the opening chapters and then actually read the ones that passed. Officially gave up on things that lost my interest halfway through. And most importantly, stopped watching the front page for more stories to bookmark. It was an ambitious program, to be sure, but as of last night, my Queue was down to 141. Much better. I can live with that level of pressure.

This means I can start paying attention to new releases again. Which brings me to my question: what Good Stuff have I missed noticing on SOL, the last 9 months?

TIA for any recs.

(Have I been writing? No, I have not for I, dear reader, am one of the lucky 5% of Covid catchers to get the Long variety. I’m still improving, at least, but not enough yet. Use PPE, people -- we’re all in this together.)

One of the fun things about Dragon Cobalt is how each of their books messes around with a different genre or setting. (I’m reminded of early Walter Jon Williams.) For example, To Walk the Constellations messes around with Star Wars, Unconquered messes around with epic fantasies with a Chosen One, All the King’s Horses messes around with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and so on.

Which is not to say they’re just cloning existing works, or even being derivative -- the plots and details and themes are free-wheeling and inventive, creating something original. There’s usually some new spec-fictional creation stuffed into every chapter. Plus, well, the characters do a lot of fucking around with each other while the author fucks around with the setting.

Anyway, the one I just finished, The Long Shot, messes around with Iain M. Banks’s Culture novels, which I deeply admire and rarely see other writers work in that vein. I am pleased to report that Dragon Cobalt messes around with it very well indeed. Among the other details that get blended in are Vinge and Benford, while Clarke, Heinlein, and Niven get name-checked in-universe. Aspects of one of the two main storylines reminds me of Slonczewski, but that could just be genre coincidence.

Wildly entertaining and highly recommended.