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You ever think about how Wen Chao tried to trap Lan Wangji in a hole, true cartoon style?

Because I just remembered 

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does anyone else ever literally choke up because of how much lan xichen loves his didi or is it just me

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We’re so lucky they filmed Lord of the Rings when they did. Twenty years later, they would’ve had Viggo Mortensen riding a green bike that they CGI into a horse because that’s better for some reason.

This simple feeling… is beyond Disney’s comprehension.

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What the past couple days have felt like

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The Untamed | Flute spinning

bonus:

#wei wuxian #the untamed

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Do ya'll ever think about how every character in MDZS is living in a radically different genre of story?

Cause yeah, sure Wei Wuxian is living in a danmei fantasy novel with strong romantic comedy elements, but if you slide over a bit Lan Wangji is living a serious and heady drama about regret, loss, yearning, the passage of time, and ultimately atonement.

Scooch on over to Xichen and your in a straight up Greek tragedy, right down to the parable about hubris and trust. Jin Guangyao is living meanwhile in a political dark fantasy al'la Game of Thrones, Nie Huaisang is in a Gothic moody Monte Cristo-esque reflection on revenge and deception, and while Lan Sizhuhi and Jin Ling are living in two VERY different YA fantasy books ('magic boarding school/secret orphan of destiny' and 'Steven Universe style coming of age/discovering all your family are some flavor of evil and magic' respectively).

Everyone connected to Yi City is living inside a dark psychological thriller/horror flick, except for Xue Yang who is in a Found Family/Enemies to Lover fic right up until he isn't.

Jiang Cheng's entire life has been one long soap opera, and it is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

#the untamed #mdzs

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Wei Wuxian’s first words // Lan Wangji’s last words

#the untamed #wangxian

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‘The Onion’ articles as CQL screen caps - 7/?

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #wen ning #xiao xingchen #a-qing #jin ling #lan wangji

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On racism and the moral condemnation of certain danmei characters

In light of recent fandom discourse, I’ve been thinking of this open letter by diaspora, published in July last year. This statement really hit hard for me. Since then, I’ve talked to other diaspora at length about the meaning MDZS and the wider danmei fandom holds for us, the ways interacting with fandom can be a deeply painful experience, and the way that pain can be exacerbated by fandom discourse— in particular, black-and-white moral statements about certain characters, and by extension, about certain aspects of Chinese culture.

For non-Chinese people, I feel like danmei can be “just” a fandom, a book that you can pick up and put down. But for us diaspora, it’s a lot more fraught. A common theme I’ve observed across a lot of the diaspora I know is the sense of having at some point shunned Chinese culture, language, or heritage, and thus becoming alienated from it, only to regret it later. Being in danmei fandom and being immersed in our culture forces us, in a lot of ways, to confront the ways we’ve grown alienated from our own culture. And in that way, it also forces us to confront the painful reasons for that alienation.

For a lot of western diaspora, it’s confronting the racism they face as minorities, which caused them to shun their culture out of a wish to integrate fully and be accepted by others. For me, as someone living in Asia, it’s confronting the sexism, homophobia, and transphobia rampant in our society. It’s confronting the many ways I’ve been told, angrily, and with disgust, that I do not have a place in Chinese culture because I am a queer, non-binary feminist, and that I’m “westernized” for believing in my own rights.

I feel in a lot of ways, danmei fandom has become a space in which diaspora can “come home”, a safe space we can reconnect with our culture, and celebrate it in a prejudice-free zone. But too often, we face racist microaggressions in the way non-Chinese audiences condemn parts of our culture. Sometimes, it’s even outright racism, open declarations that “Chinese culture is backwards and barbaric”. All this drives us to have to DEFEND our culture against western audiences in our own safe space, even the aspects of it that we struggle with ourselves, the aspects that are the very basis of our own oppression. As the statement explains:

There is often a frankly stunning lack of self-awareness re: cultural biases and blind spots when it comes to discussions of MDZS, particularly moral ones. There are countless righteous claims and hot takes on certain aspects of the story, its author, and the characters that are so clearly rooted in a Euroamerican political and moral framework that does not reflect Chinese cultural realities and experiences.

Too often, I’ve seen fellow diaspora having to tackle issues of corporal punishment in the discussion of YZY and JC. I’ve seen diaspora having to defend collectivist norms or Confucian social hierarchy, or to explain the sexism and homophobia woven deeply into Chinese society, in discussions of characters like JC, LXC, and LQR. Often, these defenses are prompted by western audiences attempting to paint these characters, their fans, or even MXTX herself as BAD and WRONG in completely black and white terms. When diaspora have tried to provide perspective that “unfortunately, these mindsets are still prevalent and accepted in Chinese society, so the issue is really not so black and white”— they get slapped with accusations like “abuse apologist” and “homophobe”. OFTEN, we also get slapped with racist remarks or insinuations that we and our culture are backwards and barbaric.

The unfortunate fact is that due to the prevalence and widespread acceptance of these mindsets, we navigate a society where people we care about, people we love, people we know to care about us deeply, are inflicting these prejudices and oppressive hierarchies on us. Our defense of these parts of Chinese culture is often, in fact, a defense of our parents, family, and friends, the people we care about and love. Sometimes, it’s also because we’ve been outright and directly accused of “homophobia” “sexism” and “apologism” for liking these characters and producing positive meta of them. But do you think we like doing this? Do you think we LIKE having to defend the parts of Confucian hierarchy, the parts of broader Chinese society that oppress us?

Discovering MDZS was wondrous for me, it was like finding a promised land where I finally have a place in Chinese culture, language, media, and society. Here, I get to reconnect with my culture alongside other queer diaspora, other people who are like me. It has helped me to come to terms with both my queer identity and my Chinese identity, and it is helping me to reconcile the two. That’s why MDZS fandom is a deeply meaningful place for a lot of diaspora. It is a safe space where we can “come home” to our culture and heritage.

That is why I am asking: PLEASE do not make this place a hostile environment for Chinese diaspora. PLEASE do not normalize the demonization of Chinese culture and Chinese people. No one is telling you that you have to agree with and be comfortable with all aspects of Chinese culture. HECK, most of us diaspora aren’t! No one is telling you that you have to like characters that represent these uncomfortable aspects. Not all diaspora like those characters either. But please— do not thoughtlessly fling around moral accusations. Please do not demonize diaspora for saying things that you disagree with.

To you, danmei and the culture depicted in it may just be a work of fiction— a book you can scrutinize, pick apart, and morally condemn, before closing the book and walking away to resume your life. But to us, it is a difficult and fraught social reality that we have to live with and navigate every single day of our lives. And so, I’d like to end off by quoting a line from the statement’s conclusion, a line that has stuck with me since it was published:

We don’t have the luxury of stepping away from our culture when we get tired of it. We don’t get to put it down and walk away when it gets difficult. But if you’re not Chinese or Chinese diaspora, you get to put this book down—we’d like to kindly request that you put it down gently.

#important #the untamed #mdzs #interact respectfully #chinese culture #chinese culture in danmei #chinese culture in the untamed

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You know, I see a lot of interpretations of Lan Xichen's seclusion doing more harm than good, but that makes me appreciate the good seclusion headcannons more.

Like, it's supposed to help. Give him a break, let him reorganize his life, let him face his grief without the pressure of having to to work day after day after petty little day. Yeah, there's a point where it could probably be too much, but I really like the stories where Lan Xichen, not having to act as Sect Leader or older brother or confidant or peacekeeper, gets to use that time to heal and work on himself.

#not everyone can or wants to heal in public #lxc #the untamed #lan xichen

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The untamed but make it ✨Mulan✨

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The biggest problem with The Sandman

The biggest problem with The Sandman is that it's actually a well-written and very well-thought-through adaptation that managed to make what so many big title adaptations didn't: it managed to capture the deliciously black hearts of both old AND new fans alike.

In this way, it is inclusive for everyone who feels like watching it and doesn't make you feel worse in any way if you don't know the original thing. It builds a bridge between these fan groups instead of creating conflicts (I'm looking at you, Amazon's RoP) and doesn't insult the viewers' intelligence by offering a show that is so vastly different from the original that it becomes barely recognizable to the point of losing the spirit of the original work. We need more adaptations like The Sandman.

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Lan Xichen being the Number One Wangxian Shipper

The Untamed // Chen Qing Ling E06

+ bonus excitedly undressing

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan xichen #wangxian #i'm not interfering i'm helping #lan xichen probably #the world's politest gremlin

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I am always a bit baffled that there are such strong reactions against Jiang Cheng allegedly torturing and killing a bunch of demonic cultivators in a story where the actual protagonist does in fact very explicitly and unambiguously torture a bunch of people to death in truly creative and horrifying ways, which includes not only forcing a guy to eat his own legs but also feeding his fingers to an undead baby. I mean, to each their own obviously, but like, this is where we’re going to draw the proverbial line in the sand?