If You Liked This Danmei, You Might Like That Baihe

[douqi]

yuerstruly and I came up with this (extremely short, and not all danmei) list for fun. We were seriously hampered in this task by the fact that neither of us reads all that much danmei (and in fact, such danmei I've read consists mainly of the Erha and MDZS sex scenes, at the instigation of friends who wanted to know if they were sexy in the original). There's also the usual problem that there are no non-MTL translations for most of the baihe novels in the list. But ANYWAY.

• If you liked Sha Po Lang, you might also like Minister Xie (谢相, pinyin: xie xiang) by Ruo Hua Ci Shu (若花辞树). In Minister Xie, teenage emperor Liu Zao tries to get to grips with ruling an empire while also doing her best to turn her prime minister Xie Yi (who is 14 years older than her, and also her sort-of aunt) into her wife. I have been reliably informed that she is even more Obsessed and Dramatique about the latter task than Changgeng is in relation to Gu Yun. Brief reviews are available here and here.
  
• If you liked Erha, you might also like the first 40% of The Abandoned (弃仙, pinyin: qi xian) by Mu Feng Qing Nian (沐枫轻年). Featuring extreme xianxia shizunfuckery and multiple rebirths, the first chapter of The Abandoned alone has the protagonist masturbating to a painting of her shizun, a curse that's basically the xianxia version of sex pollen, multiple instances of hurt/comfort, stratospheric levels of unhealthy disciple/shizun co-dependence, a double rebirth, the protagonist allowing her shizun to stab her in the shoulder so that she could get close enough to kiss her shizun, and the protagonist stealing her shizun's jade pendant for use as a masturbation aid. I say the first 40% because the remainder of the novel is unfortunately a bit of a drag (though for all I know, the back half of Erha also overstays its welcome). Brief review here.
  
• If you liked SVSSS, you might also like An Incantation for Subduing a Dragon/Dragon Subjugation Incantation (降龙诀, pinyin: xiang long jue) by Shi Wei Yue Shang (时微月上). Protagonist Luo Qingci transmigrates into a xianxia novel and into the body of female lead Ruan Li's evil, conniving shizun. Being genre savvy, Luo Qingci tries her best to avoid the character's canonical grisly fate, only to discover that her disciple might just be falling in love with her. Oh, and Ruan Li is also a dragon. Ongoing fan translation here.
  
• If you liked Qiang Jin Jiu, you might also like At Her Mercy (我为鱼肉, pinyin: wo wei yurou) by Ning Yuan (宁远). Except that everyone in At Her Mercy is evil. An English-language translation of At Her Mercy has been licensed by Rosmei (under the title At the World's Mercy), though the publication date is not yet known.

And now we come to the non-danmei though still danmei-adjacent comps:

• If you liked Nirvana in Fire/The Langya List, you might also like At Her Mercy, except that as noted above, everyone in At Her Mercy is evil.
  
• If you liked the Daomu Biji/The Lost Tomb series, you might also like Exploring an Empty Tomb (探虚陵, pinyin: tan xu ling) by Jun Sola (君sola) and Reading the Remnants (问棺, pinyin: wen guan) by Qi Xiao Huang Shu (七小皇叔). Obviously I don't know anything about the Daomu Biji series except that they're tomb-raiding novels, and both Exploring an Empty Tomb and Reading the Remnants are also tomb-raiding novels, so... close enough, I hope? Exploring an Empty Tomb is also literally millions of words long. A partial fan translation of Exploring an Empty Tomb is available here. A partial fan translation of Reading the Remnants is available here, and a fuller one here.

Comment with your own comps, if you have them! Also, feel free to post a danmei title, say what you liked about it and/or what its most notable qualities are, and people who read more baihe can hopefully find some comps for you!

Comments

[geraineon]

Thank you both! Do you mind if I share this on Fedi? I saw a post on my timeline today by someone wishing MXTX writes baihe, so this seems like a perfect post to port over to introduce people to baihe.

[douqi]

Of course! Go ahead.

(for my money though, MXTX is number two on my list of 'danmei authors least likely to write baihe'. meatbun is top. tang jiuqing does at least have one baihe title planned, and priest has at least written female protagonists)

[geraineon]

My first thought when I saw that post was the same as yours really XD

like, "I'm sorry, but you'll be waiting long long..."

[douqi]

Plus even the chances of her continuing to write anything at all (at least, under the MXTX pen name) are pretty slim.

[shipperslist]

Wait, why?

[douqi]

TGCF was started in 2017, and she hasn't shown any signs of writing anything else since. She previously had a fourth planned title, but she's deleted that as well and not added anything. And tbh the pressure to produce an extremely successful fourth title must be absolutely crushing at this point.

[shipperslist]

Ah, I was wondering if there was something else on top of those--not that those aren't more than understandable reasons.

[aurumcalendula]

Neat! Minister Xie sounds intriguing and I second the SVSSS and Dragon Subjugation Incantation comparison.

[douqi]

Minister Xie notably features a scene where the emperor goes: Highlight for spoilers! *I know it seems suspicious that I have a mostly-naked statue of the prime minister in my room BUT I CAN EXPLAIN*

[aurumcalendula]

I so want to read this!

[aurumcalendula]

If you like Faraway Wanderers (天涯客) by Priest, you might like The Beauty's Blade (美人剑) by Feng Ren Zuo Shu (封刃作书) - the plot revolves around the main characters (plus rumors of a macguffin) causing havoc in the jianghu and imho they have a similar feeling push-and-pull dynamic. An official English translation has been licensed  by Seven Seas and is scheduled for this November.

[profiterole_reads]

Very nice, because I've got this one on my TBR. (As well as Female General And Eldest Princess if it gets released one day...)

[shipperslist]

Oh, this is so neat! Thanks! *bookmarks a bunch*

[douqi]

Bonus non-c-novel comp (pretty spoilery): if you liked Highlight for spoilers! *Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go but wished the main characters were lesbians with actual agency and backbone,* you might like Highlight for spoilers! *The Creator's Grace by Ning Yuan.*

[lunarriviera]

this is amazing YOU are AMAZING thank and bless—

[douqi]

Thank you! Sincerely I don't think we have anywhere near enough titles to be of much use though.

[brownbetty]

I am thinking of two danmei titles I have enjoyed, Golden Stage, and Part Time Buddhist Priest, two very different titles that have in common that the protagonists are both like "This guys is competent, I like his swag, and I am *almost* certain we are on the same side," and then they proceed to be aggressively in cahoots while trying to figure out the other guys' agenda.

Does this bring any baihe to mind?

[aurumcalendula]

Now I really want to read something like that!

I'm not sure if Seeking Immortality In Vain has the feel you're looking for, but imho it has some of the elements you mentioned: Highlight for spoilers! *Jiang Changbai finds Song Juguang very competent and likes her, but (although their interests are coinciding at the moment) she's not certain what Song Juguang's goals are.*

[douqi]

Adding a contribution from kabaretdoll on Twitter: if you liked Saye (Run Wild), you might also like Her Mountain, Her Sea, as both feature teens with family troubles unexpectedly finding solace with each other.