I have no idea if this perception in any way reflects popularity in China or other global fandom spaces, but in today's English-language fandom, the “Big Three” danmei writers are Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, priest, and Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat. This doesn't mean other authors aren't read or known of, but these are the authors with multiple officially licensed titles out via Seven Seas and, in my experience, most English readers coming to danmei since ~2019 will have had the entry point of one of these works.

Remnants of Filth is a novel by the venerable Meatbun. Until last week, she was the only one of the “Big Three” I'd yet to spend any time with. Meatbun's Erha is highly popular but I've held off on actually reading it because there's a lot of noncon and it will either work for me or really, really not. However, I've been in the mood to read pulpy trash, and when I read that Remnants of Filth is a lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers military story, I figured I might as well start there. (Anyone who knew me in my Golden Kamuy days knows what's up.)

Going in, I knew nothing about RoF that wasn't in the one-paragraph book blurb. Let me attempt to summarize volume 1.

Also, huge CW for discussions of slavery, rape, torture, et cetera.