#cause that’s def a queerphobic take

[mxtxfanatic]

I was wondering what your thoughts are on the take that MXTX love interests are one dimensional? I saw a post that mentioned how MXTX doesn't let her characters explore their sexuality, but it rubbed me the wrong way honestly.

I don't mind if you focus on any of the main pairings, but I would love to hear about TGCF primarily if you're up for it.

Well you’re in luck, anon, because this is an argument that infuriates me! But before I get into that, let’s start with this: if you think the love interests of any of the mxtx novels are one-dimensional, you are not paying attention to the plot, character interactions, or anything to do with the love interests. All of them have lives and motivations outside of just the MCs, and even the one who arguably doesn’t (Luo Binghe) is fixated on the MC in a way that still has to do with his own character development and growth within the story. He doesn’t just perpetually play support with no internal life of his own.

With all that said, you were right for feeling like this discourse sounds wrong, because it’s absolutely a red flag when people say that “surely you can’t know your sexuality unless you experiment with a bunch of different people before you fall in love!” 🤢 Never in my life have I seen anyone argue that straight people must first date/have sex with a bunch of people before they can “really know” whether they’re straight; this is strictly something that homo/bi/queerphobes say to dissuade non-straight people from acknowledging their sexualities. Real people in real life are allowed to fall in love with whoever they want, regardless of what sexuality they do or don’t identify with and how many different people they have or have not slept with. This goes doubly for fictional characters who are products of their story and therefore 100% allowed to be in love with just one (1) person without that throwing into question the “validity” of their love, sexuality, or the believability of the story.

It’s funny cause it’s definitely a trendy discussion topic in mdzs and I guess tgcf now to suggest that the MCs and LIs can’t possibly be fulfilled as people due to the fact that they dedicated their love lives to just one person. In tgcf, Hua Cheng became a ghost king, kept humans safe, and started a ghost city to keep ghosts and spirits safe in the interim of Xie Lian’s second banishment, but this is somehow “unbelievable” or “one-dimensional” because he also only loved and held out for Xie Lian the entire time? He couldn’t have possibly grown as a person and become a more well-adjusted adult without the healing powers of hook-up culture?

Idk, there are just way too many stories being written about characters who date/sleep around and romances that come after that period, but mxtx novels are not those stories and the existence of one should not negate the validity of the other. If a reader finds that loving one person your entire life and not being interested in romance or sex otherwise outside of that one person is unbelievable, then they should simply find another story they do find believable enough to read that doesn’t break their immersion. But to then question the skills of the writer because their writing choices don’t speak to a reality you have experienced or accept?

#mdzs asks #svsss asks #tgcf asks #i hope this all makes sense #glad I didn’t see whatever post you were talking about though #cause that’s def a queerphobic take #this didn’t focus so much on evidence that the characters aren’t one-dimensional #because the take itself is a bad faith one that has nothing to do with how well-written any of them are #anon