u/YamadaAsaemonSpencer

Hey y'all, I'm relatively new to the danmei scene - began reading last August. As a lover of period pieces and politics, QJJ was extremely high on my list (one of my three "finalists") after finishing my first set of novels and two donghua but I pumped the brakes due to the rigidity of my schedule at the time. The volume count felt a bit daunting, all things considered.

But last year is not this year and I intend to begin QJJ in the fall. When I say as much to the handful of people within my irl danmei circle, I can all but feel their shudders.

"It's really dense/made my brain hurt/I couldn't finish it!"

"Too political."

"No, no, we know court intrigue and political intrigue are right up your alley but we're not lying! QJJ is really -"

"But the donkey..." (If this is the only thing I get spoiled on, I can live with it)

And my personal favorite, "Think of it as Game of Thrones on steroids. Now, isn't that off-putting?" (Meanwhile, all I'm thinking the only way that such a comparison could ever be 'off-putting' is if the entire series reads like GOT S8).

I say all that to say I really hope it IS very complicated!! I've never been one averse to thinking hard about the media I engage with; not only is theorizing and hypothesizing fun — it's to be expected.

But people are out here behaving like t97 dabbled in rocket science. Density isn't a problem. I don't mind simplicity every now and then but are there a lot of characters, locations, courtesy names, sobriquets, etc. to remember that're also a driving factor in the wails I'm hearing?