#because that fandom and the source material was full of a lot of racist sentiments

[protaetia]

🐞

#tbh there are far better reasons not to want to read tlt #than the fact that it's influenced by fanfic #for example tm's racism and fatphobia #you can just pull some gtn and htn quotes about ortus's appearance #or the way tm writes her dark skinned and brown characters #as pretty good examples of why you might not want to read them #because yeesh #(they're certainly the reason why i stopped paying for these books lol) #tbh the fannish aspect of the writing makes the series actually fun to read #despite all the other dogshite #though I would also argue that tm coming from the hs fandom no doubt shaped her treatment of poc in her writing #because that fandom and the source material was full of a lot of racist sentiments #scuttlings #🐞

[neostalgia]

Dude mdzs is fiction, stop making it about fetishizing a relationship, religion or real life politics. It's not. It's a work a fiction. Stop ruining it. Because the fandom is actually nice. But well then there are ppl like you. (And I'm not religious at all so that has gotten nothing to do with this shit. Plus what about people being genuinely interested in chinese culture. You wanna seclude your country from the world? Go off but dont bother the fandom with this)

Hi there anon, I’m gonna work off the assumption that you’re talking about my post here. I spoke in very broad terms, so I’ll do my best to shed a little more light on my concerns of the matter. What I wrote on that post operates as a reminder for members of the MDZS fandom to exercise caution lest we continue perpetuating harmful racist and homophobic stereotypes in the content we create, nothing more. I only wish to promote the respectful demonstration of Chinese culture. All types of media, fictional or otherwise, mold real-world mentalities and have real-life consequences. Books are dangerous! That’s why they get banned, and that’s why LWJ and WWX’s relationship was censored by the Chinese government.  

Sure, it’s easy to write MDZS off as an apolitical fantasy novel set in ancient China, but the source material itself is full of socio-political commentary, which debunks the idea that this novel is mere fiction. On a surface level, the novel is about the power dynamics and struggles between five large families: is that not political enough? But if you dig even an inch deeper, it’s very clear that MDZS is rife with anti-Japanese sentiment. That manifests through the Wen Sect, what with their red and white clothing and their association with the sun: MXTX specifically recontextualized a piece of ancient Chinese folklore and grafted its imagery onto the entire Sunshot Campaign in the novel. The name of the Nightless City is likely a reference to a tonally incendiary letter that a Japanese diplomat sent to the Chinese emperor at the time wherein he began with the line: “The Son of Heaven where the sun rises [Japan], to the Son of Heaven where the sun sets [China], may good health be with you.” MXTX was very heavy-handed in using the sun motifs as a means to propagate those anti-Japanese mentalities. 

Regarding homophobic attitudes: what MXTX imbedded into MDZS makes no sense in Chinese historicity. Her choice in vilifying MXY (as seen with other characters’ treatment of him in the novel) holds little historical sway considering that homosexuality was something akin to normal at the time. Moreover, the general attitude of treating WWX as the “wife” in their relationship only further imposes heterosexual standards on a same-sex relationship, which really isn’t great, now, is it? Granted, MXTX did force that standpoint, but it certainly was exacerbated when some translators decided to ignore the gender-neutral term for “married couple” (夫妻 in the original text) and decided to call WWX and LWJ as “husband and wife.”

Religiosity is important, too. I’ve seen a lot of content where the Lan sect is portrayed as Catholic (for which I can see the parallels, considering the Lan’s propensity for repression and extreme punishment) when they are canonically Buddhist: why partake in the erasure of this fact in favor of a colonialist and racist narrative? 

The thing is, I am happy that MDZS has attracted mainstream attention. So far the book and the attention it has garnered––internationally speaking––has promoted the spread of Chinese culture, which is something that has been sidelined in modernity. It’s nice to see people return develop a genuine curiosity for it. That said, navigating the realm of Chinese culture and history is difficult because it is uncharted territory for so many people, which is why I, as a Chinese lesbian who grew up in mainland China, wanted to bring attention to some concerning patterns of behavior I see. I truly mean no ill will, and only hope to educate and discourage laziness within non-Chinese consumers as respectfully as I can. 

I implore of everyone to please listen to Chinese––and Chinese LGBT+ voices––around the discussion of MDZS and anything tangent to Chinese culture. Their voices, opinions, and concerns take precedence.

#mxtx critical #long post #encouraged to rb #mdzs #anons #answered #qi.txt