Finding Your People: Danmei on Social Media
Connecting with other danmei fans across the internet has been such a delight and an opportunity for me. I’ve received book recommendations, learned about events or merchandise releases, dug deep into fan theories. I’ve asked burning questions and squeed with other fans about kisses, confessions and more. It’s also exposed me to new fan art, cosplay, podfics, and fan fiction that extends the life of these books in beautiful (and sometimes very weird) ways.
Finding these communities usually isn’t meant to be tricky, and many are open groups happy to welcome newcomers. But it can still be helpful to have a guide or a hint about the right direction. So that’s what I’ve put together here—a list of communities which I have personally benefited from and vetted, and which don’t engage in significant gatekeeping.
This list will naturally be biased towards the corners of the internet I tend to inhabit, though I’ve tried to cast a wide net. If there are communities you would like to see represented here that currently are not on the list, please let me know! I’m happy to add more.
All Things Danmei: this is the first danmei community I joined and is still one of my very favorites. It’s very active with approximately 238k members, and the conversations are naturally varied. The experience level of the members is wide and newbies are welcome. I found people incredibly helpful in sharing recommendations, whether it’s for more “mainstream” danmei or really specific niche interests. The community also tends to have a lot of literary analysis-type discussions, which I love. And as much as I’m on the fence about a lot of what Facebook does, I think the format really does allow for discussions with both depth and breadth.
Discord
I’m part of several public danmei-themed Discord servers with various different focus areas. Some of them are very niche and so I won’t list them here, but here are a few that are active and focused on danmei write large.
Danmei Destination: The server runner has described it thusly: “We are an active community with discussion questions, memes, art, fanfiction recommendations, fanfiction readings, writing exchanges, watch parties, monthly danmei bookclub, games, and other fun events.” This is a very active server! There’s always a lot going on, including daily questions about danmei that keep conversation moving.
MXTX Tavern (18+): This server founder described this server: “I made a server for not just MDZS, but general MXTX novels, and writing/art for either of them, that is only 18+ allowed.” This server has evolved from one focused on writers and artists to general fandom appreciation, and includes a lot of great conversations and sharing.
r/DanmeiNovels subbreddit has a ton of helpful information, with lots of participants who are very knowledgeable. Here’s the official description: “A place for fans of Chinese danmei, BL web novels of any language, and their respective fandoms! Original works welcome as well. Discussion of derivative works such a donghua, live actions, audio dramas, and manhua are also encouraged!”
Of the communities on this list, this subreddit has more restrictions than most when it comes to newcomers posting. It requires a certain amount of Reddit karma to participate, and the rules are a little more restrictive in limiting certain types of questions and discussions to certain threads. However, it’s also an incredibly informative community, with some very in-depth discussions and resources that I’ve used again and again such as How to Support Authors on JJWXC, Just finished a MXTX novel and don’t know what to read next? Here’s some recs!, and Danmei Beginner’s Guide.
Bluesky & Instagram
These socials don’t necessarily group into a community in the same way the ones above do, but I’ve still found incredibly welcoming and lovely people to interact with on both Bluesky and Instagram. Check out my profiles there, feel free to follow some of the same people, and jump into conversations or just say hi.
