[Please vote for who you believe is the most aroace-spec character, not the most popular. It will never be acceptable to post "anti-propaganda" in this tournament or invalidate a suggested identity because "they're not aroace enough." You will be blocked unless it's clearly a genuine mistake / misphrasing.]
Propaganda underneath the cut
Xie Lian from Heaven Official’s Blessing
Submission 1: Demisexual
He's heavily demi coded. Man has no interest in sex what so ever for 800 years and then makes a strong personal connection to one (1) person and is shocked when he's suddenly interested
Submission 2: Demisexual
I think he is demisexual. He was canonically celibate for 800+ years and doesn’t seem to have too much of a problem with it, until he meets and binds with the love interest. Suddenly this whole celibacy thing becomes difficult.
Seeing a character similar to me was an amazing experience and I think he deserves all the love!
Cheng Qian from Liu Yao: the Revitalization of Fuyao Sect
Submission: Sex Favorable Asexual
He has the Vibes
Mod Propaganda
He really does just Have the Vibes & doesn't really seem to care about romance or sex at all until - presumably - the relationship between him and Yan Zhengming develops.
With this being such a diverse set of stories covering science fiction in a million different ways, it was bound to be a bit of a mixed bag, but, after finishing this, I came away with some new favorites and a newfound appreciation for the art of translation. To highlight a few standouts, “A Brief History of Beinakan Disasters as Told in Sinitic Language”, “Dragonslaying”, “New Year Painting, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, Zhaoqiao”, and “The Woman Carrying a Corpse” were by far my favorite stories of the collection. I also really enjoyed the five essays throughout and felt I had learned something new from each one. I loved having this opportunity to read more sci-fi from Chinese authors and even though I couldn’t necessarily “relate” (though I loathe the use of that term in this context) I felt like reading this had been a treat in its own right.
Favorite Quote: Most prefer to ignore the truth. The elites create a context. The masses accept it.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Editors: Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang
Contributors: Anna Wu, BaiFanRuShuang, Cara Healey, Carmen Yiling Yan, Chen Qian, Chi Hui, Chu Xidao, Count E, Elizabeth Hanlon, Emily Xueni Jin, Mel “etvolare” Lee, Gigi Chang, Gu Shi, Jing Tsu, Judith Huang, Judy Yi Zhou, Ling Chen, Nian Yu, Rebecca F. Kuang, Ru-Ping Chen, Shen Dacheng, Shen Yingying, Wang Nuonuo, Xia Jia, Xiu Xinyu, Xueting Christine Ni, Yiling Wang, Zhao Haihong
Review: The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories Anthology
Review: The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories Anthology
The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation from a Visionary Tea of Female and Nonbinary CreatorsAuthors: Xiu Xinyu, Count E., Xia Jia, Shen Dacheng, Anna Wu, Jing Tsu, Zhao Haihong, Wang Nuonuo, R.F.Kuang, BaiFanRuShang, Yilin Wang, Ling Chen, Gu Shi, Nian Yu, Emily Xueni Jin, Shen Yingying, Chen Qian, Chu Xidao, Gigi Chang, Chi…
List of Shen Qiao’s incredible violence that lives in my head
(spoilers throughout the entire Qian Qiu/Thousand Autumns novel)
I've seen people complain that Shen Qiao should go apeshit or that he's too soft and forgiving, so I've compiled an (incomplete) list of the times Shen Qiao canonically goes apeshit/shows absolutely no forgiveness.
Beating up a gang of thugs while blind and threatening to poke their eyes out so they become just like him.
Castrating a serial r*pist.
Stabbing a man through the heart with a branch.
Taking a group of people hostage and forcing them (with threats of grievous bodily harm) to eat all the food they dumped on the ground because hello, people are starving to death literally one city wall away, assholes.
Pushing an opponent he just killed to the ground because he decided the guy doesn’t deserve a dignified death.
Threatening to cut people into smithereens and demonstrating how he would do it.
Straight up killing two would-be child-murderers in the span of 10 seconds.
Condemning a man to a fate worse than death as punishment (twice).