Danmei is a very unique genre of queer literature which both centers and de-centers queerness. None of the Danmei Iβve read have been essentially βaboutβ being gay. Theyβre just stories of life, of magic, of fantasy, of love, in which the main characters happen to be gay. Which is a kind of representation I have often seeked from western media and related intermediaries because why is every gay story, a coming out story? Is there not more to queer people than that?
However, while capturing the personhood of queer people; Danmei also captures the queerness of people because none of these stories would work if the characters werenβt gay/queer
Wei Wuxianβs absolute buffoonery of misunderstanding Lan Zhanβs feelings in a decade long telephone game in which neither of them open their damn mouth would never work in a non-queer story because between a man and a woman romance would be the natural assumption of everyone around them and therefore wouldnβt leave space for confusion. The misunderstanding of their romance is so closely tied to the plot succession that the plot would beβ¦ non existent without it
In TGCF Xie Lian and Hua Chengβs absolute aspirational love is literally in the backseat and front seat of the story. Not too different from a classic heroβs journey but instead of the hero being one person, itβs two people. They are so intertwined with eo that they become one character and witness a lot of the story together. Witness being a very interesting word choice. Their queerness doesnβt drive the story but replacing one of them with a woman would dampen the effectβ itβd remove the uncertainty, the confusion from everyone around them, the genuine slow burn of the romance. Thereβs also this idea of Hua Cheng falling in love with Xie Lian so far separated from concepts such as gender or whatever which wouldnβt have been hammered home in a straight romance where those conversations arenβt always had between the audience and the story
And Erha.. well obviously. Half of Chu Wanningβs βthis is so inappropriateβ spiral wouldnβt exist if he was a woman. And, the idea of Mo Ran being a βcut sleeveβ builds up the under current of his character being so far dismissed by society because heβs seen as immoral. Which just wouldnβt serve to the same effect if he was into exclusively women because so was every other character.
Not in a single one of these stories is queerness and homosexuality the central theme of the story yet without them, the romance wouldnβt be the same. Liking the same gender as you comes with baggage in our society which is so heteronormative and that effect has to exist in the person characters become for them to be authentic but at the same time, limiting that effect only to produce coming out stories/falling in love stories is unfair. Danmei mends this through a middle ground where the plot is the focus but it doesnβt exist in a vaccum, it exists in queerness itself
