Story Details
Published on 2024-09-03
Categories Fantasy
A young boy named Lixin discovers a mysterious star in a palace meadow, leading to a secret he can’t even share with his best friend, Hua. As their lives in the Imperial court pull them in different directions, the boy learns that this star might hold the power to change their fates. But what will they risk to follow their dreams? As ambition, duty, and friendship collide, they must decide whether to embrace the magic of the stars or the reality of their destined paths.
Author Details
Melissa Ren We Play In Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams
Melissa Ren is a Chinese-Canadian writer whose narratives tend to explore the intersection between belonging and becoming. She is a prize recipient of Room Magazine's Fiction Contest, a Tin House alum, a grant recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts, and an editor at Augur Magazine / Tales & Feathers. Her writing has appeared or forthcoming in Factor Four Magazine, Fusion Fragment, Wyldblood, and elsewhere. Find her at linktr.ee/MelissaRen or follow @melisfluous on socials. Story Notes for "We Play In Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams" In 2023, Love Between Fairy and Devil was an insanely popular Chinese xanxia drama on Netflix. Most of my friends either binged or savoured it. For months and months, this show always seemed to find its way into conversations. Back then, I hadn't watched it yet. But I'd seen enough posters of the two leads in full costume, promo clips of the show, and gifs of Dylan Wang's blue lightning eyes, that I felt a kinship to the show. It was around this time, I wrote We Play in Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams. Inspired by wuxia and xianxia, I wanted to write a cozy fantasy with borrowed magical elements from these genres, but without the epic battles or one-on-one combat. I wanted to explore a softer tone with all the similar themes of these great dramas: duty, honour, family, and love. I hope you enjoy it.
We Play In Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams, by Melissa Ren
Author Details
Melissa Ren We Play In Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams
Melissa Ren is a Chinese-Canadian writer whose narratives tend to explore the intersection between belonging and becoming. She is a prize recipient of Room Magazine's Fiction Contest, a Tin House alum, a grant recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts, and an editor at Augur Magazine / Tales & Feathers. Her writing has appeared or forthcoming in Factor Four Magazine, Fusion Fragment, Wyldblood, and elsewhere. Find her at linktr.ee/MelissaRen or follow @melisfluous on socials. Story Notes for "We Play In Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams" In 2023, Love Between Fairy and Devil was an insanely popular Chinese xanxia drama on Netflix. Most of my friends either binged or savoured it. For months and months, this show always seemed to find its way into conversations. Back then, I hadn't watched it yet. But I'd seen enough posters of the two leads in full costume, promo clips of the show, and gifs of Dylan Wang's blue lightning eyes, that I felt a kinship to the show. It was around this time, I wrote We Play in Meadows, We Hop Over Dreams. Inspired by wuxia and xianxia, I wanted to write a cozy fantasy with borrowed magical elements from these genres, but without the epic battles or one-on-one combat. I wanted to explore a softer tone with all the similar themes of these great dramas: duty, honour, family, and love. I hope you enjoy it.
