#I made this post about web novels tbh but it occurs in more fandoms

[weepingfireflies]

Anyway, one of my few fandom discourse beliefs is that everyone should delete any variation of "to say [XYZ] is a complete lie" or to act like someone is purposefully bending the truth about canon events. As someone with the absolute worst memory, I can guarantee that They Probably Just Forgot or misinterpreted something. It's a lot easier comparatively to find a specific quote than to read an entire novel or other medium when talking about a character or event. It's not that serious, and there's no great way to react to someone essentially calling you a liar

[incorrect-web-novels]

Reblogging this ask because I had to block everyone else, but this is partially what I mean in my previous post. Some of this evidence, like the "explicit thoughts," seemingly only occur in the web novel, and it’s easy to miss implications of homophobia in any adaptation. And tbh this and similar experiences still piss me off because, like in this case, no one is actually trying to have a conversation with me as an actual person with my own interpretation - they (Anon & others) are preaching at me and/or assuming any opinion I have is less valid. There was this weird implication that I was supposed to... what, eliminate Jiang Cheng?... because he was "explicitly homophobic." That I was "falling" for the aroace-ification of homophobic characters (specifically smth along the lines of, "[long rant about JC being homophobic] I can't believe a web novel tournament blog is falling for it 😔") instead of me being an aroace person who related to this character and made a tournament TO explore headcanons and alternative interpretations.

And it isn't unique to fandom spaces or Jiang Cheng discourse or anything, but it's so frustrating to have someone talk down to you, especially in "defense" of a community (LGBTQIA+) that has ALWAYS involved straying from what has been written in canon, when you are PART of that community. When you are connecting to a character because of your personal experiences as part of that community.

I'm also reblogging this because I'm genuinely interested in the "homophobic Jiang Cheng" interpretation. My memory of MDZS is rather weak to have a full-on textual debate, so I would genuinely appreciate revisting important parts of the novel (and I may actually reread it soon. Maybe). I put my alt (@incorrect-web-novels) at the end not to add extra steps or to end the conversation, but because I DO want to hear more about it, even if it's just sending a post or video or blog or smth. One of my favorite MDZS posts is about Jiang Cheng's escalating abuse toward Jin Ling, even if I didn’t interpret his character that way.

I would even argue that it's important to know different interpretations, especially negative ones, but I'm not going to have a conversation of any kind with someone who does not acknowledge me as a person or treats me like a child. There's pretty much nothing I CAN say to someone who isn't willing to listen to me at all (not that any of this was anyone's intent - I would be very happy if all of it is a misunderstanding/poor wording)

TL;DR All interpretations are valid. Treat people with respect.

[Aroacephobes/exclusionists DNI. This post is not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of my beliefs, so please assume good-faith.]

Hey geniunely, jiang cheng from mdzs is explicitly homophobic, rather than ace-coded, he doesn't stay single by choice but was blacklisted by matchmakers after he was rude to the women too many times. He also yelled at the gay couple who were paying respects to the people who raised one of them saying 'they were dirtying the place' and in his explicit thought process he's disgusted by them 'two men hugging like that was abnormal' in his perspective, he's also fine with hetero relationships, including his sister's marriage and his own.

Hey, genuinely, this isn't the place. The reason a lot of people submitted Jiang Cheng is because they connected with him as a character or the feelings he has about romance. There's a ton of adaptations of the original novel, including an MDZS Q episode, I believe, where the entire joke about him "getting a wife" was that she didn't exist. While some viewers took that as him not wanting romance at all, I assume you took / would've took that differently.

We can have a conversation about how everyone has interpreted different aspects of the novel & Jiang Cheng himself, but only if you can respect that when I, personally, read the novel, I related to him and his experiences due to my aroace-ness & own personal experiences, not because I think it's okay to be homophobic. Or that I viewed him as homophobic. And I'm working under the assumption that most, if not all, the people who voted for or like him as a character have similar reasons.

I have very clearly stated I do not want to have this conversation on this blog or in an accusatory manner. I have also stated that "Anti-Propaganda" is not allowed multiple times, and if it wasn't clear, I consider this "Anti-Propaganda." By answering this ask, I am forcing the people following this blog to listen to someone talk badly about a character they (probably) like when they have not followed for that reason, which for a lot of people, can be upsetting. It's not my or your responsibility to make sure they know how JC is viewed or even how he was originally meant to be portrayed.

I will only respond to this message since it sounds like you came from someone I had to block for spreading anti-propaganda and may not have realized why it's not allowed here. If you do want to discuss more or send posts, respectfully, you can message my alt @incorrect-web-novels, but again, I do not want to have debates on this blog.

[Please do not start arguing in the notes of this post. I am answering this to prevent future debates. I want anyone who sees this post to assume the best possible faith interpretation for everyone involved. Go submit stuff. Drink water. Hide this post if you have x-kit.]