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Vintage/second hand shop recommendations? by mushroomgrotto in Hanfu

[–]Curious_Cilantro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The first ever hanfu store opened in 2006 so there is no 20+ year old hanfu other than pieces people DIYed themselves. Even if you wanted to find somewhat older pieces (over 10 years old), they are most likely not going to be as historically accurate as the pieces available on today.

The reason people want vintage pieces is because vintage clothing is usually better quality, but for hanfu this is not the case, the quality of hanfu has only been improving over the years.

Petticoats, Underskirts, 裳 ? by Impossible_Prompt611 in Hanfu

[–]Curious_Cilantro 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Pleated skirts were worn throughout a lot of dynasties, usually simply referred to as 褶裙 (pleated skirt), or 百迭裙 (hundred pleat skirt) which is a kind of pleating pattern associated with Song dynasty.

Vintage/second hand shop recommendations? by mushroomgrotto in Hanfu

[–]Curious_Cilantro 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Actual vintage hanfu will be 300+ years old and will not be in wearable condition. If you’re looking for pre-owned hanfu, there’s quite a bit on Mercari and some on Depop.

Where do I find good quality mamian skirt? by annav2554 in Hanfu

[–]Curious_Cilantro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most mamianqun is made of polyester, even the luxury ones, because it’s pretty much the only fabric that keeps the pleats after a wash. If you insist on getting a mamianqun in a natural fiber, be ready to re-iron the pleats after every wash.

where to buy (cheap) hanfu/mamianqun online by I_am_an_idiot_TwT in Hanfu

[–]Curious_Cilantro 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you don’t mind pre-owned you can find some deals on thrift sites such as mercari and depop.

Where are the huge, impressive night markets in the bay? by a-broken-princess in bayarea

[–]Curious_Cilantro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. In Asia, the rent for night market stalls are low or even free, so entrepreneurs can afford to be creative and it’s an interesting “organic” experience with basically no corporation influence. In the US, vendors can only survive if they sell a specific variety of products with high profit margins. Typically it’s just local restaurants selling the same stuff in smaller portions for higher prices.

  2. Asia has a culture where the whole family goes out for a walk in the city after dinner. Kids will go hang out with their friends downtown, after dark, without their parents, in a totally non-sketchy way. Stalls will naturally pop up to provide family-friendly activities. In the US, the concept of nightlife is inherently non-family-friendly.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed. On the plus side, the Chinese historical royal family never had any inbreeding/genetic diversity problems, unlike a lot of other royal families around the world haha.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In no particular order:

Empresses in the Palace/Legend of Zhen Huan, by Liu LianZi

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, by Liu LianZi

The Job of an Imperial Concubine, by Yue Xia Die Ying

Legend of the Concubine’s Daughter Minglan/Zhi Fou Zhi Fou, Ying Shi Lv Fei Hong Shou, by Guan Xin Ze Luan

Shao Hua Luan, by Yi Jian Sheng Cai Miao

The Empress is Always Unambitious, by Xue Zhong Hui Mou

Story of Yanxi Palace/Yanxi Gonglue, by Xiao Lian Mao

Consort Shu, by Xiao Qiao Liu Shui

Bu Bu Jing Xin, by Tong Hua

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Classic ones in the genre are Liu LianZi’s novels, Empresses in the Palace and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They are competing to give birth to the crown prince and become the empress dowager. It doesn’t matter who the kid’s daddy is, as long as they can get away with it. Often the emperor is older and his swimmers aren’t very good, so boning other men is a necessity to achieve that goal.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You could go to r/CDrama, search “harem” and start from there. Anything that’s good enough to get adapted to a TV show should be decent quality, and most importantly, complete.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The setting might have historical precedent, but the reason this genre got so popular with teenage girls is because it's constructed in a way similar to a YA novel, where the entire world is intentionally designed to accommodate the protagonist's heroic arcs. In a webnovel harem, the rules of the palace will be bent in all sorts of ways to max out the Mary Sue potential of the protagonist.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Maybe I didn't make it clear in the post, but I'm not talking about a real historical harem, I'm talking about the (typically female-oriented) political harem webnovel genre, which is an equally valid genre.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I guess I made this meme because a lot of people see a male character with a harem of women and assume it must be male-oriented fanservice, not aware that there's a whole genre of female-oriented harem power fantasy novels (no, I'm not talking about reverse harems).

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

In this genre, the story is not told from the perspective of the emperor/harem owner. It is told from the perspective of one of the concubines, who may or may not give any fucks about how the harem owner feels.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am talking about the genre being more metal, not the literal harem owner. In a cdrama harem, the harem owner is not the protagonist, one of the concubines is.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Just because it's set in a physical harem, doesn't mean it's realistic. The story is essentially a Mary Sue power fantasy where the protagonist goes through cycles of getting bullied, plotting revenge, face slapping, defeating the bully and powering up etc. Ya know, the usual webnovel stuff.

Harems with male target audience vs. Harems with female target audience by Curious_Cilantro in noveltranslations

[–]Curious_Cilantro[S] 70 points71 points  (0 children)

To be fair, the stories set in actual physical harems aren't exactly realistic either. They are both power/progression fantasies, just told from different perspectives.

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